A pre-election media theme (along with the “red wave”) was that Latinos were moving toward Republicans. A new poll published in today’s Arizona Republic takes the air out of that as well. Highlights:
If Republicans seek to maintain or increase the support of this voting bloc, they must first understand that their platform is radically out of sync with Latino priorities in various areas, including abortion rights, gun violence, and immigration issues.
When asked if they were contacted by any political party during the Arizona election campaigns, 69% of Latinos surveyed said they were approached by Democrats, 43% by Republicans, and 29% by nonpartisan organizations. (We must constantly work on our ground game.)
The approval rating for Joe Biden was at 57% among Latinos surveyed in Arizona, while 43% disapprove.
In local and state elections in Arizona, 63% of Latinos surveyed said they had voted for Democrats, 36% for Republicans, and 1% for another party. Similarly, in races to fill U.S. Congress seats, 67% of Latinos said they supported more Democratic candidates.
Democrats have ample room to solidify and expand Hispanic support, but need to engage these voters more deeply, earlier, and strengthen their economic message.
Latinos are very supportive of protecting the right to abortion, and protecting the rights of undocumented youth, and their preferences are mostly focused on combating climate change, as well as making billionaires and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
According to the survey, 82% of Latinos support a path to citizenship for Dreamers,
Latino voters saw the shocking investment of Republican candidates in hateful and anti-immigration messages, often echoing the ‘invasion’ and ‘white replacement’ rhetoric of the nationalist right wing. By all indications, the economy and inflation were the key issues for voters this year, but Republican extremism and fear-mongering on border security and immigration hurt Republican candidates with Latinos and a lot of others outside of the MAGA base.
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