Latino voters nationwide will be a decisive voting group in the upcoming presidential election, according to a poll by the largest Latino-focused advocacy group in the country. And while Latino Oklahomans weren’t included in the samples, many of the findings reflect what the community in this state is experiencing.
Every year UnidosUs polls a large national sample of potential Latino voters for a beat on the demographic’s attitude toward issues, party affiliation, and participation in elections.
Gary Segura is the President of the polling firm BSP Research and broke down the data gathered by the UnidosUS Latino Vote Initiative at a virtual press conference this week.
He said the top issues affecting Latinos are dominated by pocketbook and economic concerns.
“Inflation, including food and basic necessities,” he said. “Jobs and the economy are number two. Housing costs have become a real issue. Health care costs have been a perennial concern for Latinos, and crime and guns and immigration tied for fifth.”
While Oklahoma was not included in the eight states from which a sample of 3,000 potential Latino voters was drawn, the top issues for respondents do reflect what Latinos in this state keep repeating, especially in light of a recent anti-immigration law.
They want to work, live in a safe place and be healthy. And it doesn’t matter what party takes them there.
More than a quarter of the national respondents said neither political party appealed to them, resulting in a razor-thin gap in partisanship on key issues. There is, however, a slight lean toward the Democratic Party overall.
A similar dynamic is true for Latinos in Oklahoma. The community finds unity beyond partisan lines in its shared grievances and challenges, whether it’s the handful of lawmakers in the statehouse or activists and union workers in the neighborhoods.
Public events and discussion forums, while run by members of the Democrat-led Latino Legislative Caucus alongside non-partisan groups, stress to the community that voting for the people who represent their values is more important than choosing a party affiliation.
Protests against the sweeping anti-immigration bill legislators passed into law this year united Latinos and other immigrant communities regardless of how any of them expected to vote in upcoming elections.
Turnout was low among Latinos in Oklahoma during the June and August primary elections, they weren’t alone in that either. And the reasons are the same too.
Clarissa Martinez De Castro is the vice president for the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS, and she said half of the respondents reported never having been contacted by a candidate in either major party.
“We often hear really dismissive and diminishing language about Latino participation in elections,” Martinez De Castro said. “Latinos don't vote as often as they should. Latinos will let you down and so forth, and no one ever wants to address the elephant in the room, which is that no one is asking Latinos to vote.”
Latinos in Oklahoma who ran for local school boards and the state legislature did connect with large swaths of the demographic in their districts. Still, when it came to turning out to the polls, some Latino-dense precincts didn’t see a single voter cast a ballot.
Martinez De Castro said the thin margins on which party best represents Latinos means both major parties can do more to reach the demographic.
“That’s 55% of the electorate that are uncontacted,” she said. “At the start of the final sprint of the election.”
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