Just a quarter of Latinos approve of the job Trump is doing as president, and Latinos prefer a Congress controlled by Democrats rather than by Republicans by a three-to-one margin, according a new NBC News/Walls Street Journal/Telemundo poll.
But Latinos also still report less interest in the upcoming midterms than the electorate as a whole, presenting a challenge for Democrats as they try to mobilize a coalition that can win in diverse districts nationwide. The survey, which included a sample of 300 Latino registered voters, found that just 26 percent approve of Trump’s job performance, compared with 65 percent who disapprove — with 50 percent disapproving strongly.
Even among Latinos who identify themselves as conservative, only half give Trump a thumbs up, while 44 percent disapprove of his performance. The unpopularity of Trump and his political positions among Latinos could give Democrats a boost in the 2018 midterms, but only if Latino voters go to the polls.
When asked about their preferences for party control of Congress, 64 percent of Latinos said they’d like to see Democrats in charge, compared with 21 percent who prefer Republicans — a margin of 43 percentage points. That’s a higher margin of preference for Democrats than Latinos had in September of 2016 (34 percentage points) or September 2014 (33 percentage points), but slightly narrower than before the 2012 presidential election (45 percentage points).
More than half of Latinos — 53 percent — say that they want their vote to send a signal in favor of more Democrats to be a check and balance to Trump and congressional Republicans. Still, one looming problem for Democrats is that Latinos remain less interested in the 2018 midterm elections than the electorate at large; about half — 49 percent — report the highest level of interest in the upcoming midterms, compared with 61 percent of white voters and 58 percent of voters overall.
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