Hispanic voters are going to be the deciding votes in this year's Florida gubernatorial race, Fox Latino reports.

"I believe having two Latino candidates for lieutenant governor on the ballot will motivate Hispanic voters to the polls," Nelson Diaz, chairman of the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee, told Fox Latino. "It's a good sign that both Gov. Scott and Crist respect the Hispanic community."

The race is between sitting Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, and former Gov. Charlie Crist, an Independent, meaning that both understand their state, and as a result both have chosen Hispanic running mates.

In February, Scott announced Cuban-American Carlos Lopez-Canters, who was the first Hispanic lieutenant governor in the state.

Lopez Cantera, 40, previously served eight terms in the state Legislature, and was also a house majority leader, in addition to previously being a Miami-Dade Property Appraiser.

"Lopez-Cantera is very popular and has name recognition," Diaz said. "As a son of the Cuban exile community, it bodes well for him and Gov. Scott since higher numbers of Cuban-Americans vote in the midterm election than in presidential years."

To balance the scale, in July, Crist announced his runningmate was Annette Taddeo-Goldstein, a Colombian-American businesswoman.

Taddeo-Goldstein has previously attempted running for political office, unsuccessfully, for state Congress and Miami-Dade County Commission. She has also helped rally Hispanic votes during the Obama campaign in his run against Mitt Romney.

Four years ago, Scott narrowly won the Hispanic vote by a 50 to 48 percent margin over then-opponent Alex Sink and was able to secure 68 percent of the Cuban American electorate in Miami-Dade, Fox Latino reported.

Two surveys show that 49 percent of Hispanics favor Crist, though he lost popularity during the first six months of his campaign. In April, A Survey USA poll showed Scott led Crist by 52-46 percent among Cuban-Americans, but a late August poll shows Cuban-Americans now favor Scott over Crist by 63-30 percent, Fox Latino reported.