GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump, who has long campaigned on the significance of border security and legal immigration, has continued to surge support from Latino voters, according to the latest The New York Times/Siena College poll released on Sunday.
Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, who President Joe Biden had assigned to tackle the “root causes” of illegal migration, has struggled to win over Latino voters while the former president is maintaining a political edge on the issue, reported the Times.
The Biden-Harris administration has poured migrants into sanctuary cities and states. Still, the mass migration has cost Democrats support in that growing bloc of voters, which is playing an increased role “in deciding control of the White House,” per the report.
According to the Times poll analysis, the vice president is underperforming the past three Democratic presidential candidates and has become “vulnerable on a slate of top issues, including the economy, immigration, and crime. “
Dems continue to maintain a stranglehold on the majority of the predicted Latino vote in the poll. However, Democrat presidential candidate vote support has continued to decline 20 points since Trump’s Republican candidacies started in 2016.
• 2016: Republican 28%, Democrat 68%
• 2020: Republican 36%, Democrat 62%
• 2024: Republican 37%, Democrat 56%
It must be noted that only 22% of the probable Hispanic voters polled considered themselves Republicans, compared to 38% considering themselves Democrats and 25% considering themselves independent (2% said they were another party, with an additional 12% not knowing or refusing to answer).
Latino voters expressed a desire for leadership change in the White House
Latino voters expressed a desire for change in White House leadership on the issue to the NY Times. They said they are open to Trump’s immigration policies, leaving many Latino voters undecided on their presidential vote, according to the Times.
“The last Democrat to fall below 60% with Latino voters was John Kerry, the losing nominee in 2004,” per the Times’ analysis. “Over a decade ago, roughly 70% of Latino voters backed President Barack Obama’s re-election. Since then, Mr. Trump has eroded that support.”
The former president opened up the voting confidence and eyes of Latinos on his border policies.
“I have heard a lot of people say that he is racist, but I honestly don’t think he is racist,” said Jessie Saucedo, long-haul truck driver and former Obama supporter, told the Times. “All of the stuff was taken out of context.”
According to poll results, younger Latino voters are twice as likely to say former President Trump’s policies help them versus the policies of the Biden-Harris administration.
The Times’ poll of 902 Hispanic likely voters was conducted September 29 to October 6 by Siena College. The survey’s margin of error is minus or plus 4.5 percentage points.
