The latest poll released by NBC/Marist in the battleground states of Colorado and Florida continues to show a bleak picture for Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, among Latino voters ahead of their national party convention in Cleveland, Ohio next week.
President Obama won the 2012 election with 332 electoral votes. Candidates need 270 electoral votes to win the Presidency, but most states are already determined by pollsters to be locked up by either the Republican or Democrat candidate. This leaves battleground states, states where pollsters have determined can go for either candidate, as valuable real estate in the fight to get to 270 electoral votes.
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Colorado and Florida possess 38 electoral votes, 29 from Florida and 9 from Colorado, and wins in those states will make it much easier to win the election for President.
With Latino Republicans feeling increasingly locked out of the GOP and the growing Hispanic influence in battleground states, along with others like Virginia, Georgia, Ohio, and Nevada, the math becomes increasingly difficult for any Republican candidate to compete in a national election.
The latest numbers from NBC/Marist highlight the uphill battle Donald Trump will have in November. Hillary Clinton enjoys comfortable ratings over Trump with a 37 percent gap in disapproval numbers between the two in Colorado — 41 percent for Trump and 78 percent for Clinton. In a two-way vote in Colorado, Clinton defeats Trump by 32 percent among Latinos.
Florida shows a less bleak picture, but nonetheless a steep hill for Trump to climb. In the past the state has counted on a predominance of Cuban Republicans among the Latino electorate, but that has been changing, as seen in 2012.
The poll shows Trump’s disapproval numbers at 64 percent, 16 points higher than Clinton. In the two-way contest, Clinton wins among Latinos by 21 points in Florida.
Perhaps most concerning for the Trump campaign is the relative popularity among Latinos of President Obama, who has taken an active role in his support for Clinton. The president’s approval ratings in both states exceed both candidates by a significant amount and Obama has the lowest disapproval ratings between both Clinton and Trump, as well.
Obama’s popularity among Latinos, 61 percent approval in Colorado and 62 percent approval in Florida, may prove to be an influential factor for undecided voters.
