Posted on September 6, 2016

Clinton Isn’t Doing Better Than Previous Democrats with Latinos–Even Against Trump

Abby Phillip, Washington Post, September 2, 2016

In a presidential year expected to produce record turnout among Hispanic voters, there are few signs that Hillary Clinton is performing any better among Latinos than past Democratic presidential candidates–even with ­immigrant-bashing Donald Trump as her GOP opponent.

In Nevada and Florida, the two battleground states with the highest Latino populations, the Democratic nominee remains locked in a close race with Trump. Clinton is polling about the same as Democrats in previous contests among Latinos nationally, apparently gaining no ground from Trump’s historic unpopularity.

The close polls in Nevada and Florida have prompted Clinton’s allies to begin spending money targeting Hispanic voters in those states. The campaign itself will also begin airing Spanish-language ads in battleground states after Monday.

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{snip} As a result, just 18 percent of registered Hispanic voters have a favorable view of Trump in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

But there is also evidence that Clinton’s standing with Hispanic voters may be weakening. According to the same poll, Clinton’s favorability among Hispanics fell in August from 71 percent to 55 percent, a drop outside the sample’s 10-point margin of error.

A new Latino Decisions poll released Friday found that 70 percent of registered Latino voters said they would definitely vote for Clinton or were leaning toward doing so, a drop from 76 percent who said the same in April. The survey, conducted for the immigration advocacy group America’s Voice, also found that support for Trump rose from 11 percent in April to 19 percent in August.

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This year, an average of recent Post-ABC polls shows Hillary Clinton leading Trump by 70 percent to 25 percent among Hispanic voters–similar to Obama’s margin over Romney.

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Polls show that Clinton is weakest among Hispanic voters who are English-dominant and U.S.-born, while Spanish-dominant and ­foreign-born Hispanic voters are more likely to support her over Trump. The campaign has been running English-language ads targeted in part at the first group.

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