ST. LOUIS, Missouri – In the latest release from the weekly tracking poll sponsored by NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected Officials) and Telemundo and conducted by Latino Decisions, data flowing in continues to paint an increasingly bleak picture for the Trump campaign, while trends continue to improve for Hillary Clinton. Nonetheless, concerns continue over Latino voters’ perceptions of Democrat outreach into the Latino community.
Clinton’s approval ratings among Latino voters have held steady, at 66 percent, but her share of Latino voters appear to be getting stronger. Four weeks ago, when the tracking poll first started asking voters who they would vote for, 71 percent indicated that Clinton would be their choice on election day. Today that number has inched up, to 74 percent, while Trump’s numbers appears to be trending downward, from 18 percent four weeks ago to 16 percent today.
While the numbers are still too close to be sure, the data trends support the argument that the numbers will continue to solidify for Clinton as the election draws closer.
Supporting months of data from Latino Decisions since the beginning of this election cycle, Latino voters’ concerns for immigration, the economy, and even security correspond closely with support for Clinton.
However, the poll showed there are still issues for the Democratic party when it comes to voters' perceptions of whether the party is doing enough outreach.
Four weeks ago, 59 percent of Latinos said that the Democratic Party was doing a good job of reaching out to Latinos, but that has dropped to 50 percent today.
Somewhat counterintuitively, the poll suggests that the Democrats are doing a better job of reaching out to Latinos. For instance, 42 percent of Latinos say they have been contacted by a political party, campaign, or other political organization, where 39 percent they had been contacted four weeks ago. Of those Latino voters being contacted, 63 percent they were contacted by Democrats, whereas that number was 51 percent four weeks ago.
This means that even though the data suggests the Democrats are doing better reaching out to Latinos, Latino voters continue to be unsatisfied by the Party’s efforts. The high levels of enthusiasm by Latinos in this election, at 51 percent, suggests Latinos are hungry and willing to be courted this year.
