According to a new poll released Monday, anti-immigrant rhetoric is emerging the Latino vote days before the midterm elections.
The results of a tracking poll by Latino Decisions show that Latinos now are responding with more enthusiasm than they were in early September. Over half of Latino voters, 61%, said they are “very enthusiastic” about voting. That number was only 41% on September 6.
“The civic groups are having a big impact on Latino turnout,” Matt Barreto, a Latino Decisions pollster, said. “And if Latino turnout is high this year, it will be because of the Latino civic groups and community groups. It will not be because of the Democratic Party.”
It is the Democratic Party that stands the most to gain though if Latinos do show up at the polls on Election Day. Yesterday, La Plaza reported that Latinos may very well be the deciding factor in several key races in states with a high percentage of Hispanics like Nevada, California and Colorado.
Barreto said the growing enthusiasm among Latino voters can be partly attributed to the anti-immigrant stance many Republican campaigns have adopted this season. In order to capitalize on this some say more resources should be invested.
“The party itself has to seriously invest in courting the Latino vote, and it is not even close,” Barreto said.
Despite Barreto’s assertions, late last week, the Democratic National Committee announced the largest-ever investment in Hispanic paid media for midterm elections. The Party is spending $1 million in Spanish-language radio and TV ads, voter registration drives, voter protection programs, outreach to national leaders and field operations in targeted states and districts.
Latino Decisions polled 375 Latino registered voters in 21 states between Oct. 8 and Oct. 21. The margin of error is plus or minus 5.1 percentage points.
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