Republicans Sound Alarm Over Latino Vote

Republicans are reeling over an apparent erosion of support from Latino voters, a voting bloc that boosted the party in 2024, in Tuesday’s off-year elections.

According to CNN exit polling, New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (D) won the support of 68 percent of Latino voters, while Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) received 67 percent support from Latino voters.

The results mark a shift from just one year ago, when the voting bloc helped propel President Trump to victory. Republicans say the time is now to course-correct ahead of next year’s midterms.

“Unfortunately Latinos are leaving the Republican Party after giving us a monumental chance in 2024,” said Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) in an video posted on the social platform X after Tuesday’s results. “In New Jersey and Virginia, Hispanics moved back more than 25 points to the Democratic Party.”

{snip}

The clearest sign of that wake-up call was in New Jersey, where, according to census data, the Hispanic population makes up 21.6 percent of the state’s population. According to the Pew Research Center, Latino voters make up 16 percent of the state’s electorate.

Trump made significant inroads in enclaves in the state dominated by Latinos in 2024. The president became the first Republican to win New Jersey’s Passaic County in more than 30 years last year. One year later, Sherrill carried the county by nearly 15 points.

Democrats also won back Hispanic voters in Virginia a year after Republicans made inroads in the state. Spanberger won the Northern Virginia city of Manassas Park, which has a large Hispanic population, by 42 points. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, by comparison, won it by just less than 20 points last year.

“I think a lot of it was driven by concerns about immigration enforcement, cost of living pressures, and really, just a sense that the Republican outreach lacked authenticity,” said Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the conservative advocacy group Job Creators Network.

{snip}

Fifty-three percent of Latino voters named the cost of living and inflation as their top concerns, according to a UnidosUS poll published by CBS News on Monday. Twenty percent said the same about immigration, after housing and health care.

The same poll also found that 59 percent of respondents said their rights and liberties feel less secure than before when asked about immigration.

{snip}