UnidosUS Voter Poll: Pocketbook Issues Still Top Arizona Latino Priorities

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Healthcare and immigration round up the top five priorities for the state’s Latino voters

WASHINGTON, DC – UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, today released findings from its 2024 Pre-Election Poll of Arizona’s Hispanic Electorate. The data shows that the top three priorities for Arizona Latino voters, two months out from the election, are dominated by cost-of-living issues — inflation, jobs and wages, and affordable housing. Immigration and healthcare were the number four and five priorities respectively. Poll results, as well as upcoming additional Congressional district-level data for the Latino voting-age population provided by the USC Center for Inclusive Democracy, can be found in UnidosUS Hispanic Electorate Data Hub, launched last November to advance a more accurate understanding of this electorate.  

  • See a slide presentation of poll toplines here.
  • Check out the interactive Hispanic Electorate Hub here.   

Enrique Davis-Mazlum, UnidosUS’s Arizona State Director, said, “Hispanic voters in Arizona have immediate concerns about their economic well-being and security and those concerns will play an immense role in who they vote for in the upcoming election. Yet, while these voters will be decisive in November, 50% of Arizona’s Latino voters say they have not been contacted about the upcoming election by either candidate. Now is the time for candidates to engage with this critical demographic and address their real concerns with real solutions.”  

Key Findings Include:   

On the issues   

Arizona Latino voters’ top five issues are largely consistent with Latinos across the country and continue to be dominated by pocketbook and economic concerns.   

  • Inflation: Food and basic necessities, housing/rent and gas prices are driving concerns about inflation.
  • Housing: Top concerns are lack of available and affordable rentals or homes for sale, and homelessness.
  • Jobs: Better pay and concerns about job security top the concerns about jobs and economy.
  • Immigration: Path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children is the top concern.
  • Healthcare: Costs of insurance and medication are the driving concerns 

On abortion, by a 68% to 21% margin, Latinos in Arizona consistently oppose making it illegal or taking that decision away from others, no matter their own personal beliefs.   

On voting   

In 2024, 18% of Arizona Latinos will be voting in their first presidential election.    

  • 37% of the Arizona Latino electorate is new since the 2016 presidential election.   

While a majority of Latinos are certain they will vote, many are still deciding.   

Early outreach is key: 20% plan to vote early, 41% by mail and 38% on Election Day.

  • 50% say they have not been contacted this cycle by the parties or organizations.   

On the parties and candidates   

  • On priority issues overall, Democrats are more trusted than Republicans, but 28% of Latino voters responded “neither,” “both” or “don’t know” when asked which party would be better at addressing their priority issue.    
  • Vice President Harris holds a +29-point lead in support from Latino voters over former President Trump: 58% to 30%.   

Joe Garcia, Vice President of Public Policy at Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc., said, “A disproportionate percentage of Latinos continue to live in poverty, in poorer neighborhoods with inferior schools and unsafe neighborhoods. Too many Latinos work in the most difficult and often dangerous jobs but are underpaid and under- or uninsured, lacking adequate health care. Immigration is not political rhetoric to our community, it is a personal experience with many members of mixed-status families and our friends, coworkers and neighbors facing deportation – and all of us facing discrimination because of the color of our skin or our last name. We need the candidates to provide Latino voters with a roadmap and plan to help get us where we need to be, because that elusive destination is where we belong.” 

Conducted by BSP Research with oversamples in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas, the 2024 Pre-Election Poll of the Hispanic Electorate provides a more accurate and nuanced understanding of this decisive, but often misunderstood electorate, and serves as a follow-up to UnidosUS 2023 Pre-Election Poll.    

About the survey:  

Total N=3,000 Latino eligible voters  

  • N= 2,800 registered.  
  • N= 200 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: August 5-23, 2024  

  • English or Spanish, according to preference.  
  • Mixed mode: 75% online, 25% live telephone interviews.