Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio are taking their White House bids to Puerto Rico on Friday, where they will hold competing campaign events in San Juan, the commonwealth's capital.

The visits by the Democratic presidential front-runner and the young Republican senator serve as "a nod to the huge and growing influence [of] Puerto Rican voters," the New York Daily News reported.

The island territory itself does not vote in U.S. presidential elections, but Puerto Ricans residing in the continental United States could well determine the outcome in key battleground states. That is particularly true in Florida, where more than a million Puerto Ricans make their home.

Winning the Sunshine State's 27 electoral vote could be crucial to in the 2016 race, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito told the newspaper. "It is a really critical moment in time for those of us in the island and in the diaspora," the Puerto Rican native and Clinton supporter said. "If people are leaving the island and coming to Florida, the first thing on their mind is what's going to happen to Puerto Rico."

During their trips, meanwhile, Clinton and Rubio will likely be asked to weigh in on Puerto Rico's staggering $72 billion debt, a key issue for local voters that divides the two candidates, the Associated Press noted.

In an op-ed published on Friday in El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico's largest newspaper, the Florida senator argued that the territory should not be allowed to use bankruptcy laws and instead must find its own way to deal with the financial crisis, the AP noted.

"The reality is that Puerto Rico's leaders must lead and do the difficult but essential work of cutting spending, reining in out-of-control big government and eliminating job-killing policies, including scores of new tax increases," the Republican, who will appear at an afternoon fundraiser, wrote.

Clinton, who in 2008 soundly defeated then-Sen. Barack Obama in Puerto Rico's primary, planned to skip the issue and instead focus on health care -- a strategy criticized by local Rep. José Enrique Meléndez, who said it was "time that Puerto Ricans start demanding respect."