Latino voters will help determine whether Democrats or Republicans control Congress in the coming year. New numbers from the Pew Research Center show that about half of the Latino voting bloc is planning on voting for a Democrat, while less than a third of the bloc says it will vote for a Republican candidate. Still, the Latino vote isn’t so simply laid out. 

What You Need To Know

  • "The Latino Vote" examines voting patterns and inclinations of the nation’s Hispanics

  • Pollsters need to expand their sample size for Latinos

  • The umbrella term "Latino" is too narrow

  • Latinos feel like neither party speaks to them

The same Pew Research report shows that 43% of Latino Republican registered voters are giving significant thought to which candidate it prefers, while only a quarter of Democratic and independent registered voters have done the same. 

The hosts of “The Latino Vote” podcast, Mike Madrid and Chuck Rocha, joined “Inside the Issue’s” host Alex Cohen to examine the complexities behind the Latino Vote. 

Madrid said one of the biggest mistakes in calculating the weight of the Latino Vote has been placing everyone under the umbrella term Latino. The GOP political strategist said that removes complexities like country of origin, the immigrant experience, age, etc. Rocha said the complexities are what makes the Latino vote a “trifecta of a political monster.” The Democratic party strategist said we’re currently looking at a group that largely speaks more than one language, where the average age is 28, and is also fairly new to being a voting group of power in the U.S. That last part may very well be why the researching industry is getting so many things wrong.  

“Most Hispanic samples come from voter files that really begin as cursory as just saying, ‘If you’ve ever had a Hispanic surname, then you’re going to be Latino.’” Madrid said. Pollsters in California have become better at adding more context to their data, he adds. For example, some have added country of origin, interracial marriage, degree of separation from the immigration experience. But, overall the industry needs changing. Madrid said one of those changes needs to be creating larger sample sizes during research.

Locally, politicians are reaching out to Latinos by permeating their communal activities. That means, “Going to a soccer field, having a mariachi band, going to the local market… trying to surround yourself with folks that are from the community,” Rocha said, adding that “showing up” is important. 

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Still, Latinos feel like neither party really speaks to them. When Pew Research asked about the differences between Democrats and Republicans, 45% saw a great deal of difference, but if you add those who saw only a fair amount of difference or hardly any at all… more than half don’t see a difference between the parties. In order for Latinos to understand the difference between the parties, they must first understand the difference between them. Only then can they make an individualized approach to courting their votes.

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