UnidosUS, Mi Familia Vota Discuss New Polling Results That Outline the Priorities of California’s Hispanic Voters

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Results Represent Major Shift In Salient Issues To Latino Voters 

WASHINGTON, DC – UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, and Mi Familia Vota, a national civic engagement organization, today held a briefing to outline the priorities of California’s Hispanic voters. The results show a significant shift in some of the top issues among Latino voters: 

  • Inflation and jobs are the #1 and #3 priorities, findings that track with long-standing Latino concerns about the economy. Health care is the fourth priority. 
  • Notably, crime/gun violence rose to #2, driven by concerns about easy access to guns and school shootings.  
  • For the first time, abortion is among the top five issues, and 78% of California’s Latino voters believe it should remain legal, no matter their own personal beliefs on the issue. 
  • While immigration is not among the top five issues, Latino voters believe strongly that leaders in Washington should provide a path to citizenship, or in the absence of Congressional action, the president should take executive action. 
  • A majority of California’s Latino voters (56%) believe the country is on the wrong track. At the moment, 61% of Hispanic voters in California say they are 100 percent certain they will vote in November. 
  • Overall, 88% of California Latino voters say it is personally important to them (58% very important) for elected officials and other leaders to speak out against white nationalism and white supremacy 

You can view a more in depth deck outlining topline results here, and a chart with Latino voter data in competitive districts here. 


Esmeralda López, California State Director for UnidosUS said: 

“Latino voters are sending a wake-up call to both parties, which remain underwater with their chronic lack of engagement and meaningful investment in these voters. Latinos are the second largest group of voting-age Californians, yet misconceptions about this diverse and multiracial voting community persist. This poll helps to dispel misconceptions. Latino voters in California remain consistent in their concerns about rising cost of living and jobs. In the wake of Uvalde and restrictions on women’s rights, there were some shifts. They reject taking away rights, like abortion, and support universal background checks and mental health investments to curb crime and gun violence.  UnidosUS and Mi Familia Vota are coming together to challenge the misconceptions about this multiracial voting community, and advance its full electoral and advocacy engagement.” 


Irving Zavaleta, National Programs Manager of Mi Familia Vota said: 

“Latino voters can be a powerful and stabilizing force in American politics as the second largest group of voting-age Americans. We know Latinos in California will play a decisive role in the 2022 midterm election cycle. Mi Familia Vota is committed to building Latino political power, and this poll we conducted with UnidosUS shows the best way to reach our communities. For anyone who cares about California’s most pressing issues – from quality jobs to gun safety, to climate change, to orderly immigration – greater Latino participation should be a welcome development.” 


Gary Segura, Founding Partner and President, BSP Research said:  

“The Latino electorate is grumpy, fearful about the economy, but overall sees its values and issue positions more aligned with Democrats than Republicans. Abortion politics are decidedly more important than in the past for this group of voters, who regardless of their personal beliefs, solidly reject taking that right away from everybody else. And that includes Catholic and non-Catholic Christian Latinos.” 


The poll was released as part of a multi-state, multi-year partnership between UnidosUS and Mi Familia Vota, which together represents the most powerful Latino civic engagement and democracy operation in the country. In 2022, UnidosUS and Mi Familia Vota will execute an extensive, $15 million civic engagement effort working with Hispanic voters in eight states: Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Among other elements, this year’s campaign will include:  

  • Registering over 100,000 voters.  
  • Reaching out to a universe of nearly 2 million voters we connected with in 2020, with a specific focus on preventing voter drop-off from 2020.  
  • Providing research and data on the perspectives and priorities of Hispanic voters.  
  • Hosting candidate forums in multiple states with high profile statewide elections.  
  • Providing voters with information on policy issues and voting access.  

Significantly, the long-term partnership aims to break the boom-and-bust cycle of traditional electoral engagement, building sustained participation ecosystems that connect electoral engagement, policy advocacy, and community services, recognizing and building upon existing community assets and infrastructure. The two organizations will strengthen the connective tissue among those tracks between now and 2024.  


About the survey 

  • Total N=2,750 Latino eligible voters 
  • N=2,540 registered voters 
  • N=210 eligible, but not registered voters 
  • Margin of error +/- 1.9% 
  • Field dates: July 20 – August 1, 2022 
  • English or Spanish, according to preference 
  • Mixed mode: 75% online, 25% live telephone interviews. 

 

About UnidosUS  

 UnidosUS, previously known as NCLR (National Council of La Raza), is the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Through its unique combination of expert research, advocacy, programs, and an Affiliate Network of nearly 300 community-based organizations across the United States and Puerto Rico, UnidosUS simultaneously challenges the social, economic, and political barriers that affect Latinos at the national and local levels. For more than 50 years, UnidosUS has united communities and different groups seeking common ground through collaboration, and that share a desire to make our country stronger. For more information on UnidosUS, visit unidosus.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.   

  About Mi Familia Vota  

Mi Familia Vota is a national civic engagement organization that unites Latino, immigrant, and allied communities to promote social and economic justice through citizenship workshops, voter registration, and voter participation. Mi Familia Vota has operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas.