Immigration Policy Key to Winning Latino Vote, Democrats Ahead of the game
A Latino Decisions poll released Tuesday found that immigration stances of the two major parties is closely aligned with their ability to win the Latino vote. The results of the poll, which was conducted with 800 registered latino voters in conjunction with America’s Voice, SEIU, and the National Council of La Raza, can be found here.
The poll essentially found that immigration reform is a top priority for Latino voters, and that their voting preferences in the future are affected by how politicos in the major parties move forward with immigration reform. And that this preference ran across party lines, so Latino voters are opening to switching parties in the name of supporting immigration reform.
Latino voters selected their presidential candidates largely based on immigration rhetoric and policy, according to the report. Specifically, 43% of Latinos who voted for Obama said they would back a GOP candidate if the Republicans lead immigration reform.
If President Barack Obama and the Democrats take the lead on immigration reform, however, Latino voters reported that they would be more likely to vote for them.
A total of 44% said they would be more likely to vote Republican if this party led on immigration reform. Yet, when asked how Republicans blocking immigration reform would affect their vote, 42% said they would be less likely to vote Republican (including 33% of Latino Republicans).
Currently 58% of Latino voters polled rate immigration reform as the most important issue for the government to address, up from 35% in a November 2012 Latino Decisions poll.
If Democrats pass immigration reform with a path to citizenship, Latino voters reported that they would be 61% more likely to vote Democrat — even 32% of Latino Republicans. Whereas if Democrats block the reform, 35% would be less likely to vote for the party — including 41% of voters identifying as Democrats.
Overall, though, Democrats seem to be winning the Latino vote overall, but specifically wining on the immigration reform point. The report stated: “While the Republicans may be buoyed by this finding, at present they have a long way to go in winning over the Latino vote.”
The rationale being that Latino voters seem to think that Republicans are to blame, to the tune of 64%. This poll billed itself as “conclusive” in its linking of the immigration reform policy issue to the Latino vote during a presidential election. The report closed by noting that, “What the parties say and do on immigration reform, and especially on a pathway to citizenship is critical in how Latino voters evaluate both parties, and ultimately who they vote for.”