The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

The vote of young Latinos helped stem the Republican red wave across the country

2022-11-13T00:57:15.518Z


“In close races, they can be decisive. They can really put a candidate on top or keep him in the race,” explains an election expert. "Latinos are not only the present, they are the future of democracy," underlines another.


By Nicole

Acevedo

Young Latino voters were crucial in stemming the so-called Republican red wave in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to early exit polls.

As Americans continue to wait to find out which political party will control the House and Senate next year, early data shows that younger Latino voters led Democrats in hotly contested races.

A group of people queue to enter a voting center in San Antonio, Texas, on November 8, 2022. Xinhua News Agency via Getty Ima

The NBC News exit poll found that 68% of Latinos under the age of 30 who voted opted for a Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives, although only 43% of them identify as Democrats.

30% of young Hispanic voters opted for a Republican candidate.

As for party identification, 37% of young Latino voters said they were independents and 20% said they were Republicans, according to NBC News exit polls.

Additionally, 41% of young Latino voters said they identify as liberal, while 34% moderate and 25% conservative.

[Activists Believe Anti-Immigrant Message Helped Abbott Reelect]

The NBC News exit poll also echoed some analysis by CIRCLE, Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, which studies young voters.

Young Latino voters under the age of 30, along with young black voters, showed higher support for Democrats on Election Day compared to young white voters, according to their data.

68% of Latino youth and 89% of Black youth supported a Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives.

Among young white voters, the vote was 58% for Democrats.

"I am going to bring new ideas to Congress": Maxwell Alejandro Frost celebrates his victory in the elections

Nov. 10, 202203:46

“In close races, the big margins of young people, of young people of color, of young Latinos, can be really influential.

Sometimes they can even be decisive,” Alberto Medina, head of communications for CIRCLE, told NBC News.

“They can really put a candidate on top or keep them in the race,” he pointed out.

For example, Senate races in western states like Nevada and Arizona, where young Latinos make up 40% of all new eligible voters in the region, were classified by CIRCLE as contests in which young voters could have the most impact.

We are so polarized in this country that young people understand that on key social issues, Republicans are not with them.

Dakota Hall Alliance for Youth Action

"The ranking of these two states is heavily influenced by the large presence of young Latino voters," Medina said.

Nevada Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the United States Senate, is in a close fight to renew her seat against Republican Adam Laxalt, ahead with a slight advantage.

Although the casting of votes has not yet ended, it is known that as of Wednesday 64% of young voters had opted for Cortez Masto, according to CIRCLE.

In Arizona, as of Wednesday, 76% of young voters favored Democratic Senator Mark Kelly in his race against Republican Blake Masters.

The United States votes for diversity and inclusion in different states and Nacho Lozano analyzes it

Nov. 11, 202204:24

Given that Latinos are among the youngest racial and ethnic groups in the country, with a median age of 30, it is nearly impossible to understand Latino voters without acknowledging their connection to the nation's young vote.

CIRCLE estimates that 27% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 voted in the midterm elections, marking the second highest turnout of young people in almost three decades.

[How does the outcome of the midterm elections affect the possible candidacies of Biden and Trump in 2024?]

Dakota Hall, executive director of the Alliance for Youth Action, believes that young voters are engaging with Democratic candidates to put more pressure on them on issues related to abortion access, climate change and the economy, especially as it relates to rising wages, creating economically sustainable futures and investing in education.

“We are so polarized in this country that young people understand that on key social issues, Republicans are not with them,” Hall explained to NBC News.

These are some reasons why the so-called 'red tide' did not materialize during the elections

Nov. 9, 202204:17

While some people like Hall believe that the Democrats' messaging around key economic and social issues may have had an impact on young Latino voters, others like Clarissa Martínez De Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS, think that the Democrats cannot get too comfortable if they want to take advantage of these votes.

“There is an alignment of values, but if they want to capitalize on it, they have to get to them effectively and early,” said Martínez De Castro.

“Voters want things done.

Whether it's about the economy and jobs, about immigration or abortion, about housing and healthcare, people want things done,” he stressed.

Medina said CIRCLE's research shows that young voters in general are less likely to commit to a partisan affiliation.

Instead, these voters are motivated to vote based on their values ​​and the issues that matter to them.

[They blame the Trump factor for the Republican electoral underperformance]

In nine electorally competitive states - Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - the aggregate youth turnout was 31%, according to CIRCLE estimates.

Thirty percent of Latino voters are between the ages of 18 and 29, which is “10 years younger than the national average,” Héctor Sánchez Barba, executive director and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, said at a briefing this week.

One million Latinos are expected to turn 18 every year for at least the next fifteen years, according to the Pew Research Center.

“Latinos are not just the present,” Sánchez Barba said.

“They are also the future of democracy,” he recalled.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-11-13

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.