democrats breaking GOP's long lock on cuban vote

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEMOCRATS_CUBA_POLITICS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-04-04-32-59



FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2103 file photo, Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. For more than two decades, running for Congress in this sun-soaked capital of Cuban exiles has required two things: a Republican registration card and a hard line toward the Castro regime. So when Garcia became the first Cuban-American Democrat from the state to win election to the House in 2012, it signaled a crack in a critical GOP constituency. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

MIAMI (AP) -- For more than two decades, running for Congress in this sun-soaked capital of Cuban exiles has required two things: a Republican registration card and a hard line toward the Castro regime.

So when Joe Garcia became the first Cuban-American Democrat from the state to win election to the House in 2012, it signaled a crack in a critical GOP constituency.

In a break with the exile community, Garcia campaigned in support of loosening restrictions on Cuban-Americans who want to visit relatives on the island or send them money. Since taking office, he has pushed for U.S. trials of a Cuba-developed diabetes treatment and for easing travel rules for Cuban diplomats who visit the U.S.

And while Florida Republicans, including Sen. Marco Rubio, fumed when President Barack Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro last month, Garcia dismissed it as a simple courtesy.

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1. Generational change. The old ones are dying off now. nt