Latinos and other minorities voted heavily for Democratic candidates, helping to drive the party’s capture of the U.S. House in this year’s midterm elections.
“The net wave of the Democratic pickup is due entirely to strong support from minority communities who voted Democrat,” Latino Decision pollster Matt Barreto said in a conference call discussing the election eve poll of 9,425 Latino, African American, Asian Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Native American voters.
Democrats will take control of the House when the next congressional session begins in January after picking up more than the 23 seats needed to reclaim the majority. On the morning of Election Day on Tuesday, the top-trending Google Search in the U.S. was “dónde votar,” Spanish for where to vote.
In the Latino Decisions election eve survey, 73 percent of Latinos said they voted for the Democratic candidate, while 90 percent African Americans, 72 percent of AAPIs and 61 percent of Native Americans said they chose the Democrat. Forty-five percent of white voters cast their ballot for Democrats.
In addition to helping Democrats win the House majority, Latinos came out strong for candidates such as Beto O’Rourke, the Texas congressman whose grassroots campaign drew national attention but fell short and put incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, on edge. There had been late election angst on whether the Democratic party was doing enough to reach Latino voters.
A tracking poll conducted by Latino Decisions showed that about 55 percent to 65 percent of Latinos said they had not been contacted about registering or voting. According to the NBC News Exit Poll, one in four Latino voters said they cast a midterm ballot for the first time this year.
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