Tomorrow is Super Tuesday and for some candidates it’s do or die, with over a quarter of pledged delegates up for grabs. Even with the large electoral bulk of March 1st, tomorrow will give us a strong indication about who Latinos political preference lies.
Most of our attention will be placed on Latinos in Texas, but the growing role of Latinos in other Super Tuesday states gives us a glimpse into the power Latinos will have in not only shaping the 2016 presidential elections but many elections in the future.
Texas is the grand prize of the night as it holds the most delegates. Not only has that but Texas has the second most eligible Latino voters with nearly 30 percent of the state’s eligible voters being Latino. Outside of Florida, Texas has the highest number of Latinos either identifying as Republicans or voting for GOP candidates
Texas is a big test for Donald Trump as he has claimed time and time again that he has the support of Latino voters. This deep-red state will be the largest Latino electorate Trump has faces so far and it becomes even tougher test because he’ll be going against the Latino sitting senator from Texas. Polls show that Ted Cruz is leading the state and if results show Latino Republicans dump Trump for Cruz or Rubio it will give them the necessary delegate support to keep going.
Hillary Clinton is also in for a battle in Texas. A Latino win for her in Texas could mean that her massive lead with Latinos remains solid. On the other hand if Latinos, especially Latino millennials, start showing strong support for Bernie Sanders it could be a bad omen for the rest of the southern states.
Other states in which Latinos will be a key electorate are Virginia and Colorado. Both of these swing states have solid Democratic leaning Latino populations. With Colorado making up 15 percent of the electorate and Virginia having a 4.6 percent there support will be crucial in taking the state in November. For this reason it is important for Democrats to have high voter turnout for these primaries because low turnout could indicate that the state will be in the red column come November.
As a result of this and the great explosion in the Latino population in the New South. Part of that growth is from immigration, the other part from births. Latinos will soon be playing a big role in the future of Super Tuesday as young Latinos become eligible to vote in the New South.
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