Latino men shifted their support back toward Democrats during Tuesday’s elections after President Donald Trump made historic inroads with them in 2024.
Fifty-eight percent of Latino men voted for Democrats, while 39% voted for Republicans, according to an NBC News exit poll. Trump won the Latino male vote during the 2024 election, with 54% of Latinos voting for him over former Vice President Kamala Harris, a record for any Republican presidential candidate.
A majority of Latino voters, 62%, voted for Democratic House candidates, a CBS News exit poll showed. Fifty-one percent of Latinos voted for Harris and 46% voted for Trump.
Hispanics shifted toward Democrats by 28 points since 2024, according to The New York Times. White voters shifted toward Democrats by 13 points, while young men ages 18 to 29 shifted toward Democrats by 41 points after they largely backed Trump in the last presidential election.
More voters trusted Democrats over Republicans to handle the economy, the CBS News exit poll showed. Voters soured on Trump’s handling of the economy, the Iran war and government corruption, helping Democrats deliver historic wins.
An overwhelmingly majority of voters were dissatisfied with the economy and blamed the Iran war for the price increases.
Economic issues leading into the 2024 election caused Latino voters to shift their support toward Trump. After the election, polling showed three quarters of Latino voters disapproved of how Trump has handled the economy and cost of living, according to an NBC News/Telemundo poll.
About two thirds of Latino voters believed the administration had gone too far on immigration enforcement, while 30% approved, according the NBC News/Telemundo poll. A Pew Research poll found that 62% of Latino voters believed the administration was doing too much to deport illegal aliens, while 22% believed the right amount was being done.
Republican Florida Rep. Maria Salazar alleged that “some” of Trump’s immigration policies had “gone too far” in a campaign ad from September. Salazar sponsored the DIGNIDAD (Dignity Act), an immigration reform package that would provide legal status for some illegal immigrants in the U.S.
“In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record,” Salazar said. “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today. You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism.”
Salazar led Democratic Florida congressional nominee Eliott Rodriguez by a one-point margin as of Wednesday. The race had not been called at the time of publication.
Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill performed well with Latino voters a year after the 2024 election. They centered their campaigns around affordability, which was a top issue for voters.
Democrats regained majorities in the House and Senate after securing historic wins in deep-red states and gerrymandered districts. Democratic Texas Sen.-elect James Talarico became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Texas since 1988, while Democratic Kansas Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat to win in Kansas since 1932.
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