SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The number of Latinx voters continues to grow and experts say they could have a big impact on state and national elections.
Sacramento State Assistant Professor Kristina Flores Victor has been studying the community and provided some insight on what can be expected in 2020.
“The Latino electorate right now in recent polls shows that we have highly motivated potential voters,” Flores Victor said. “Approximately 70% of the Latino electorate are saying they are very motivated to turn out to vote. And around 80% are reporting that they have a plan to vote and are planning to vote.”
Flores Victor says these are really high numbers compared to previous Presidential elections.
“By far, the number one issue for Latinx voters in all of these polls is COVID and the response to COVID,” she explained. “There is greater trust in experts and in Democrats than in President Trump on the issue of COVID.”
She said the usual suspects, Texas, Arizona, and Florida, are the states where the Latinx vote could have profound consequences.
“In Texas right now, in the most recent poll that just got dropped…66% prefer Biden to 25% Trump,” Flores Victor said.
This matters in a state like Texas because 30% of eligible voters are Latinx. In Florida it’s 20%.
“Just so I’m totally clear, President Trump, he never polls above 50% with men or women and the closest he gets is around 47% with Latino men in Florida,” Flores Victor said.
She also explained how the Latinx demographic is younger than other demographics.
“One thing I want to note here, too, is that the Latino electorate tends to be younger and the younger Latino electorate does have stronger preferences for Biden over President Trump.”
She also points out that the female, or Latina, voter turnout seems to lag behind other demographics of women voters.
“There is still this gap in voters between eligible voters we have and the number of voters who register and vote,” Flores Victor said. “And so people are looking at this election to say, ‘Maybe this is the time when we kind of start to close that gap between Latina voters and other types of women voters.’”
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