The Democratic Party is continuing to shed Hispanic and Latino voters, and it’s the party’s fault because of the policies it favors.
Nowhere is that more true than with the issue of crime.
As Democratic mayors and district attorneys increasingly pursue soft-on-crime policies, Hispanics are becoming more and more fed up as they feel less safe in their communities. And as such, they are flocking to the Republican Party.
One Texas voter told MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart the party “has changed a lot” and she now sides with the GOP.
“We’re for God, country, family and hard work,” Maria Batres said.
Jose Arreola, also of Texas, said he became a Republican because he is concerned about immigration and “beefing up border security.”
“The fact of the matter is, we don’t feel safe anymore,” he said.
Another major issue driving Latinos to the GOP is inflation, which has skyrocketed since Democrats took over Congress and the White House.
“Our NBC/Telemundo poll found the top issue for Latinos was cost of living,” Diaz-Balart said.
The issues are even shoring up to affect next month’s midterm elections, as NBC News reports, including in longtime Democratic strongholds like Nevada:
Nevada Democrats have held up their state as a national testing ground for how to win Latino voters in 2024.
But with only 37 days until the midterm elections, there are warning signs: At the doors, on the phones and on the streets, Latinos are threatening to stay home. And that is despite the presence of the first-ever Latina elected to the U.S. Senate, Catherine Cortez Masto, at the top of the ballot.
Organizers in both parties say they see the same phenomenon developing, as do major Latino groups and the powerful Culinary Workers Union:
Disgruntled over the economy and unhappy with their post-pandemic job quality, these voters, many of whom Democratic groups identify as once lifelong supporters, could sit this one out.
That’s on top of the usual challenges of turning out voters for midterm elections.
“It’s what’s keeping me up at night,” said Melissa Morales, president of Somos PAC, which has spent millions of dollars on ads in English and Spanish for Cortez Masto, NBC News reported.
“What I’m looking at is: Do Latinos actually turn out to vote this year? If we see high turnout, we win in Nevada,” she said.
.@jdbalart spoke with Latino voters across the Southwest.
“We're going to vote in the direction of folks who are going to be paying attention to the issues that are important to us,” one voter tells José.@msnbchttps://t.co/jygNiSOI77
— José Díaz-Balart Reports (@JDBalartMSNBC) October 3, 2022
One Hispanic voter told Diaz-Balart: “We’re going to vote in the direction of folks who are going to be paying attention to the issues that are important to us.”
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