The Almanac of Latino Politics

The presidential election of 2020 showed just how diverse the Latino vote can be. (In Florida, Latinos tended to lean more Republican while in Illinois and California they leaned more Democratic). The Latino vote was undeniably crucial in delivering important electoral victories to the Biden campaign in the states of Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia while tightening the margins in states like Texas, which is historically solidly Republican. This boded well for Democrats, who not only won the presidential election, but also won enough Senate seats to have the Vice President Kamala Harris be the tie breaking vote, giving them a slim control of the Senate. 

Latinos have been growing and have become a bigger presence in states that are considered key in the road to the Presidency. In fact, nearly 85% of the Latino population is concentrated in the top 16 states in terms of electoral college votes (see Table 3.5). States like Pennsylvania, where national attention doesn’t turn to in terms of the Latino vote, there are 305,000 registered Latino voters. The Pennsylvania election was decided by less than 100,000 votes, making the Latino vote even more powerful. The Florida election also proved how Republicans appealed to sections of the Latino electorate that helped diminish the margin Democrats usually hold with the Latino vote, something that helped deliver them the win. Both parties stand to gain from appealing to the Latino electorate, an electorate that will continue to outgrow the White-Non Hispanic vote and will become a greater slice of the electorate.