Hillary Clinton’s campaign is touting a substantial 99% increase in Latino voting in Florida compared to this point in 2012, with 133,000 Hispanics already casting their ballot in the state, as part of its major focus on getting its base to vote early in key swing states.
The campaign included the figure it called “unprecedented” in its latest field report Monday, as early voting begins in Florida, with the 133,000 votes comprising mail-in and absentee ballots. Last week, it said that in bellwether Pinellas County in Florida, which is 10% Latino, Democrats now maintain a voter registration advantage that’s increased since March.
With Latinos comprising 17% of the state’s electorate in 2012, and perhaps being a more important part of Clinton’s coalition in 2016, the numbers are very encouraging for the campaign. Early voting in other states with large Latino populations has also buoyed the campaign’s outlook.In Nevada’s Clark County, a major population center that include 75% of the state’s residents and is 31% Hispanic, 51,000 people voted on the first day of early voting, with 55% registered as Democrats, while 27% were Republicans.
In Arizona, a traditionally Republican state that in many ways represents the key to a Clinton landslide, the numbers don’t look good for Donald Trump, either. With more than 300,000 votes already cast in Arizona, Democrats lead Republicans by 1,000 votes but trailed Republicans by 20,000 votes at the same point four years ago, the campaign said.
Polls have shown Latinos largely repudiating Trump for his rhetoric and policies throughout the campaign season, but recent polls appear to show Clinton inching up while Trump drops. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll last week showed Clinton leading Trump 70% to 17% with Latinos nationally, while a Noticias Telemundo/NALEO tracking poll released Monday put the figure at 74% to 15%.
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