Recent polling shows a majority of Latino voters plan to back Democratic candidates in next month's midterm elections, continuing a trend that has held for decades. But that support is on the decline.
Nevada Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt takes a group photo with supporters during a Hispanic Heritage Month Fiesta at the RNC Hispanic Community Center on Oct. 13, in Las Vegas. Republicans are making inroads to appeal to Latino voters.
One of the biggest reasons for this shift, Rocha said, was Republicans have been stepping up their efforts to gain the support of Latino voters. "What has happened since 2020 is math," Madrid said."2016 was not a good year for Trump with Hispanic voters. He was kind of directly assaulting [them]." Republican strategists have told NPR that they have appealed to the group with a three-pronged approach — on the economy, crime and progressive policies — which began during the 2020 election when Trump used"democratic-socialism" to appeal to Latinos, particularly to those of Cuban and Venezuelan descent.