Despite popular handwringing about the Democratic Party’s left-wing moves, recent tracking from Latino Decisions and the NALEO Education fund indicates that registered Latino voters and likely Latino voters support the progressive plank of the party.  Young women like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley are proof of the eagerness among the communities of color, who form an important part of the Democratic coalition, for important social reforms.

Latinos Care About a Fairer Economy and Society, not Just Immigration

The Latino Decisions/NALEO poll shows that Latino voters would be more likely to support candidates who have policies that align with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.  Respondents overwhelmingly favored candidates who wanted a clean DREAM act, universal background checks for gun purchases, expanded access to health care, protection of social programs like Medicare and Social Security, and reproductive rights.

DREAMers are an important issue for Latinos, but immigration is not the only issue Latinos care about.  While 80 percent of polled voters were more likely to support a candidate who favored passing a DREAM Act, 86 percent were more likely to support a candidate who called for universal background checks before any gun purchase.

Healthcare is an important issue for registered Latino voters. Over three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents were more likely to support a candidate who wanted to expand access to health care and improve and protect Obamacare. Nearly 70 percent of respondents were less likely to support a candidate who wanted to cut spending on Medicare and Medicaid. While Latinos also comprise 41 percent of Catholics in the US, Latino voters still favor reproductive rights. Sixty-two percent of respondents were less likely to support a candidate who prioritized placing an anti-Roe v. Wade judge on the Supreme Court.  Even more telling, only 17 percent of respondents were more likely to support a candidate with that stated goal, while 35 percent were much less likely to support the candidate, showing that this is a battle in an overwhelmingly white culture war.

For Latinos, Trump is the Republican Party

Seventy-nine percent of Latinos have a negative perception of the Republican Party currently, believing that they “don’t care too much” or are “being hostile” toward Latinos. Sixty-nine percent of registered Latino voters surveyed had an unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump. The highest ranking issue for Latino voters was “stopping Trump and the Republican Agenda,” compared to only 7 percent believed the most pressing issue was “Stopping Pelosi and the Democratic Agenda.”

This information correlates with earlier Latino Decisions polls that shows the Republican Party’s turn to Trumpism is shedding Latino Voters.  Trump and the nativist turn of the GOP has brought an end to over four decades of Latino outreach.  Trump’s demonization of Latinos has turned nearly every significant Latino group away from the Republican Party.  Only about 15 percent of respondents identified as Republican voters.

Outside of Trump’s tweets, the overall message of the Republican Party is not appealing to Latinos either.  The Republican bogeyman of “big government” is not frightening for Latinos. The scarier specter is governmental breakdown.  While Republicans in the past have doubled-down on Latinos’ skepticism of the larger role of government, they have misconstrued it for anti-statism. Latinos want good government.  They are aware that government is not always the solution, but neither is government always the problem, as Republicans since Reagan have repeated often.  For many naturalized citizens and first-generation U.S.-Latinos there is a belief that things can and should work better in the U.S.  Latinos are afraid that American politics descending into disorder and there is no better example than Trump, who acts, lies, and governs as an authoritarian dictator.  For many Latino voters, Trump and the GOP are the type of leaders than their parents and grandparents warned them about.

 

 

 

Photo credit via Wiki Commons