Poll: Hispanic support of Democrats dipping

Jacquelyn Martin / AP

In this June 30, 2014, photo, President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, pauses while making a statement about immigration reform in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington,D.C.

By Tovin Lapan (contact)

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 | 5:30 p.m.

Hispanic voters are increasingly frustrated with the federal impasse over immigration reform and are souring on Democrats, according to a new poll that also offers insights into the 2016 presidential race.

More than half of the 600 Hispanic registered voters polled by Latino Decisions said immigration is the most important issue in 2014, outpacing jobs and the economy, health care and education.

A majority of respondents said they disapprove of the way Republicans, Democrats and President Barack Obama are handling immigration, with 67 percent giving Republicans a thumbs down on the issue, and 53 percent and 51 percent disapproving of the Democrats and presidents efforts respectively.

Overall, Hispanic voters are more likely in 2014 than they were in 2012 to say they are voting to support the Hispanic community rather than one of the political parties, and Hispanic support of Democrats in general has waned.

Were seeing record high levels of frustration with both parties from Latinos, and we know a lot of that has to do with the lack of progress on immigration, Latino Decision co-founder Matt Barreto said on a press call discussing the results. For Latinos, this issue is even more important than it is to the general electoratea clear majority of Latinos know an undocumented immigrant. For them, immigration is deeply personal and symbolic. Both parties stand to lose serious support if they continue to take the Latino vote for granted. Theres clear signals of that happening in 2014 and even stronger signals for that in 2016.

More than half of those surveyed said they agreed with the statement: The Democratic Party expects Latinos to vote for them, but is unwilling to take political risks or take a stand on behalf of immigrants.

Here is the original post:
Poll: Hispanic support of Democrats dipping

Related Posts

Comments are closed.