Voice of the Voters is a series by FOX 4's Senior Reporter Ryan Kruger highlighting the perspectives and views of local voters as they head to the polls.
Halloween is on full display in America’s sweetest town.
And many voters in Clewiston say the economy has them spooked.
Watch below to see what's important to voters in Clewiston:
In the lead up to Election Day, Fox 4 is speaking with voters in every community of southwest Florida to find out what is driving them to the ballot box.
“My focus is, really, the economy,” said Eileen Perez. “We’ve seen how it looks the last four years. We’ve seen it all go downhill.”
“The economy is important. Because when we do good, the world does good,” one voter told Fox 4.
Sugar and tourism are two of the main economic drivers in the Hendry County city.
U.S. Sugar is the top employer in town.
Nearby Lake Okeechobee serves as both a source of recreation and revenue.
“The economy here is, basically, just the lake. The lake. The lake. The lake,” one voter said to Fox 4.
With a growing Hispanic population, which now makes up more than half the city’s population, it means you find many voters who only speak Spanish.
But they also come from families who fled communist countries, which impacts how they vote.
Perez said her parents “had to leave their whole livelihoods to have freedoms here. My grandfather was a political prisoner for 20 years.”
While other voters say the election comes down to one thing.
“Who is the best candidate to lead us out of the hate and lies,” one voter told Fox 4.
