UnidosUS Unveils Hispanic Electorate Data Hub and Partners with Mi Familia Vota to Release This Year’s Most Expansive Poll on the Priorities of Latino Voters

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Data Hub and Survey are part of a multi-year, multi-state effort to build an accurate understanding of this electorate, grow Latino participation and advance community priorities 

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, is unveiling a first-of-its-kind Hispanic Electorate Data Hub, which will provide data on the size and growth of the Latino electorate over the last two decades, a chart of 2024 competitive districts with Hispanic voter influence, and dynamic multi-cycle polling results on Latino perspectives and issue priorities. This includes the results of the most expansive poll on the Hispanic electorate this year, providing timely insights into the perspectives and priorities of this electorate a year out from the 2024 elections.

Janet Murguía, President and CEO, UnidosUS said “Hispanics are the second largest group of voting age Americans and a critical factor in the race for the White House, Congressional balance of power, and beyond. Yet, oversimplifications and mistaken assumptions about these voters persist. We have created this first-of-its kind Hispanic Electorate Data Hub to promote an accurate understanding of this fast-growing group of voters, starting with the largest poll this cycle of Hispanic voters’ perspectives and priorities, including the one in five Latino voters who will be will be casting a vote for the first time in a presidential election. In a landscape of close elections, Hispanic voters are difference-makers, and are putting an exclamation point on the need for parties and candidates to meaningfully engage them and respond to their priorities, which are topped by cost of living, jobs, housing, and gun safety concerns.”

Key findings include:

On the issues

  • Four of the top five concerns for Hispanic voters are dominated by economic and pocketbook issues – specifically, inflation and the rising cost of living, jobs, healthcare and housing affordability. Notably, housing rose to the top five concerns as a stand-alone for the first time.
  • Gun violence remained among the top five, doing so for the first time in 2022.
  • On abortion: By a 71% to 23% margin, Latinos continue to oppose efforts to make it illegal or take that decision away from others, no matter their own personal beliefs on the issue.
  • On immigration: While not in the top five priority issues, immigration is ranked higher than it was in 2022. Top action items include providing a path to citizenship for long-residing undocumented individuals and Dreamers; the lowest support of any issue in the battery is for finishing the wall or mass deportations
  • On climate: Latino voters think climate action is urgently needed to forestall weather and climate related catastrophes. Only 6% think climate change is not real.
  • Medicaid expansion is wildly popular (over 80% in favor) in the states that have failed to do so.

On voting

  • In 2024, 22% of Latinos will be voting in a presidential election for the first time. 38% of the Latino electorate is comprised of new voters since Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off in 2016.
  • Overall, voters are split equally in three on plans to vote early, by mail, or on election day.

On the parties

  • Hispanic voters think Democrats would be better than Republicans at handling nearly any of their top priorities and see more value alignment with Democrats, but not by overwhelming amounts.
  • Biden has a lower-than-expected approval rating (47-44), and the GOP House has an abysmal approval rating (31-50).
  • About the Democratic Party, 48% of Latino voters say the party cares about Latinos, 41% say it doesn’t care too much, and 11% say it is hostile toward the Latino community.
  • About the Republican party and Latinos, 25% of Latino voters say the party cares about Latinos, 48% say it doesn’t care too much, and 26% say it is hostile toward the Latino community.

This research shows that Latino voters are sending a warning message to both parties and continues to paint a clear picture that both parties need to do more to better engage and expand support with Hispanic voters.

The poll is part of a multi-year, multi-state national partnership between UnidosUS and Mi Familia Vota, a national civic engagement organization. Our goal is to achieve a full spectrum of civic engagement, connecting electoral programs, policy advocacy, public opinion research, citizenship programs, and community engagement to lift Latino voices.

Gary Segura, Founding Partner and President, BSP Research said “one year out, our poll finds Latino voters anxious and facing a broad array of worries, from costs of living and good paying jobs to mass shootings and restrictions on reproductive rights. While the president’s approval is comparatively low, the House GOP’s is catastrophic, raising questions about how this may impact participation levels at the ballot box.”

Héctor Sánchez Barba, Executive Director and CEO of Mi Familia Vota said “Latino voters will once again prove decisive in the upcoming presidential election. Looking to 2024, we are excited to see that 22% of Latinos will be voting in their first Presidential election, 16% for the first time in ANY federal election, and that 38% of the Latino electorate is new since 2016. These new voters are an incredible opportunity to organize and build Latino political power. We have a year, and this poll is critical in helping to understand and begin organizing to turn out Latino voters in 2024.”

Clarissa Martínez De Castro, Vice President, UnidosUS Latino Vote Initiative said “Hispanic voters can be a stabilizing force in American politics. As illustrated in this and previous polls, they generally reject extremes, oppose taking away rights, and want to see elected officials willing to work together to get things done. With more than 8 in 10 registered Latinos voting in presidential elections, it is clear that continued investments in closing the registration gap and expanding their voice in the voting booth would not only benefit this community, but also their fellow Americans seeking an economy that works for all, communities safe from gun violence, an orderly and humane immigration system, and addressing climate change, to name a few.”

About the survey

Total N=3,037 Latino eligible voters

  • N= 2,707 registered
  • N= 330 eligible, not registered
  • Margin of error +/- 1.8%

Oversamples

  • N=300 per: Arizona, California, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania (+/- 5.7%)
  • N=400 Florida, Texas (+/- 4.9%)
  • Field Dates: Nov 2 – 13, 2023
  • English or Spanish, according to preference
  • Mixed mode: 75% online, 25% live telephone interviews