SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — As the midterm elections get closer and ABC 10News continues its celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we wanted to take a look at the power of the Latino vote in this country.
Latinos are the second largest group of eligible voters in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center.
While candidates make their plea to voters, both at the local, state, and federal levels, nearly 35 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in 2022.
Hispanics now make up the largest minority in the country, according to the U.S. Census. Benjamin Gonzalez O'Brien is an associate professor of political science at San Diego State. He says politicians are now paying more attention to the Latino electorate.
“It’s going to be harder and harder for parties to win elections without the Latino vote in this country,” says O’Brien.
According to a study by the Pew Research Center last month, the economy remains the top issue for Latino voters, followed by education. The issue of abortion also moved up in importance in recent months as well, according to that poll.
Professor Gonzalez O'Brien says these differences, and party choice depends on a wide range of reasons.
“There's generational status, there's age, there's religious, national origin and all of those things play a role in determining what party Latinos identify more with,” explains O'Brien.
In that same pew study, fewer than half of Latino voters feel there's a great deal of difference between what the democratic and republican parties stand for, which is why professor Gonzalez O'Brien says politicians have to work to get Latinos' votes and follow through on those campaign promises to get votes in future elections.
