ORLANDO, Fla. -- As the race for Florida's U.S. Senate race heats up, both candidates are scrambling to woo a fast-growing group of Puerto Rican voters who have resettled in the state after fleeing Hurricane Maria.  

  • Groups like Mi Familia Vota are making sure Puerto Ricans are registered to vote
  • Puerto Ricans are now largest Hispanic group in Florida

A recent poll conducted by Florida International University found nearly half the Puerto Ricans surveyed in Florida said they are not returning to the island.

Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, are now the largest Hispanic group in the state and unlike when they lived on the island, these new arrivals will have the opportunity to decide who represents them in Congress.

"They were saying like, 'Come here to Florida, we're open, we want our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters to come here,'" said 20-year old Ariana Colón, who relocated to Orlando with her young son and boyfriend following Hurricane Maria. 

Colón, who is pregnant with her second child, says she is not satisfied with the assistance the state is providing her family and those feelings are fueling reservations for those running for Florida's U.S. Senate seat.

"It feels like every time we are doing it, people will vote for whoever we think it's going to help us," Colón explained. 

Groups like Mi Familia Vota are looking for new residents like Colón, making major pushes to register Hispanic voters. 

"There's a lot of people coming from Puerto Rico that doesn't have any idea that they can vote here in Florida," said Carlha Mondragon, an organizer with Mi Familia Vota.

Mondragon has been working to register voters, specifically targeting the Puerto Rican strongholds of the region. 

"In Florida, 27 percent of the voters are from Puerto Rico, so it's pretty important," she explained.

Mi Familia Vota has registered more than 7,389 people in Orange County who identified with an ethnicity. Of those, 55 percent are of Puerto Rican descent. That is more than 4,000 people. 

"Our goal is to register over 30,000 people by the end of this, we are already at that target almost," said Nancy Batista, the Florida State Director of Mi Familia Vota.

"Based on the trends that we are seeing, we are going to register about 15,000 that are going to be Puerto Rican," Batista said.

In perhaps one of the country's most contested political battlegrounds, those votes can make a difference.

"One vote is better than silence," Mondragon said. 

Florida's statewide primary election is on Tuesday, Aug. 28. Florida is a closed primary state, meaning that only Republicans and Democrats can cast ballots. 

Organizations like Mi Familia Vota are combing through new voter registration records, letting those who have chosen "no party affiliation" know they will not be able to participate in the primary and giving them the option to change it.