Puerto Rican Debt May Impact Presidential Election in Crucial State

Q: Which place has as many Republican delegates as New Hampshire, plus enough native sons and daughters living in Florida to swing the outcome of that state’s presidential primaries or even the general election? A: Puerto Rico.

That political reality has put the financially ailing U.S. territory on the map of presidential hopefuls, who are being asked what, if anything, the federal government should do to help engineer a rescue plan for the debt-strapped island.

Politically, much is at stake. Puerto Rico has its own voice at nominating conventions, with more delegates at the Democratic National Convention than 21 states. And 1 million Puerto Ricans live in Florida, enough to be the swing vote in one of the nation’s most important swing states.