Florida's 26th congressional district is home to a heavy Cuban population, and its House of Representatives election has challenged candidates to confront Cuban politics.

Cuban-American Democrat Rep. Joe Garcia is seeking reelection against his Republican challenger and fellow Cuban American Carlos Curbelo, a Miami-Dade County school board member.

Polling figures about the congressional race has shown mixed results. A poll from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), as expected, showed Garcia in the lead, but by a narrow spread of 5 percentage points. The DCCC had Garcia ahead with 45 percent to 40 percent for Curbelo. Fifteen percent of respondents, however, were undecided. Meanwhile, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) had their own poll and had Curbelo ahead with 44 percent to Garcia's 40 percent.

Saint Leo University Polling Institute published its own polling results and also had Curbelo leading.

"There's still time for Garcia to make a move, but he must court independent voters. Although demographics and a gradual shift in Cuban political identity are making the district more Democratic, Garcia must also win a greater share of Republican votes, a hallmark of his successful 2012 campaign," said Saint Leo University political science professor Frank Orlando.

"What's important to remember in FL-26 is that the Latino majority is far from monolithic," said Cook Political Report's House editor David Wasserman, via the Miami Herald. "If the entire population of the district were Cuban American, this would be a safe Republican seat. But the growing non-Cuban Hispanic share of the population -- that is the reason why Joe Garcia has a shot at reelection."

The election has also put the Cuba on the spotlight.

Garcia recently launched a new campaign advertisement titled "Luchadores" featuring a Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas. "For decades, Joe Garcia has been a compatriot committed to our fight," said Fariñas, in Spanish, which has aired on Spanish-language televisin. Fariñas has previously met President Barack Obama last year during a Democratic fundraiser. But Curbelo has scrutinized Garcia for politicizing Fariñas. The Cuban dissident, however, said he did not solicit viewers to vote for a specific candidate and therefore clears him from being involved in the race.

"I stand in solidarity with the Cuban community in South Florida and fully support their right to see their families who remained behind. No government should determine when individuals are permitted to see their ailing loved ones," said Garcia. "Guillermo Fariñas has been a fearless opponent of the tyrannical Cuban regime. We must empower the Cuban people so that they continue to work towards a free Cuba."

"It's a shame that this is how he has decided to end his campaign," Curbelo spokesman Wadi Gaitan said in a statement, via the Miami Herald. "We should be talking about government reforms that will lead to economic prosperity for South Florida families. Instead we are focused on Garcia's irresponsible and unethical use of a Cuban dissident in a desperate television ad."

Florida's 26th district is home to 59 percent of Latinos and nearly half were born outside of the U.S.

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