Highlights:
- 36.2 million Latino voters are registered to vote in this presidential election.
- 31 per cent of Latinos eligible to vote are between 18 and 29 years old, compared to 20 per cent of all Americans. The Latino community is younger than the rest of the US population.
- The economy, labor, immigration and abortion are the most important issues for Latinos and Hispanics in the United States.
Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump and Democratic candidate and vice president Kamala Harris are campaigning for the support of Latino and Hispanic voters in the United States.
It's a base that could decide the next president, according to Angie Ocampo, assistant professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh.
“The Latino vote has a big impact because Latinos live in very important states such as Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Florida.
"Some of these are critical and it is not known which party they are going to vote for."
Angie Ocampo. Photo: linkedin.com/in/angie-n-ocampo-roland-8a392085/
Although the Latino community has historically supported the Democratic Party, Trump's popularity has been growing, University of Florida academic Andy Gómez said.
“The majority will support Kamala Harris," he explained.
"Cuban-Americans, depending on the stage in which they arrived in the United States, 80 or 85 per cent [are] with Trump."
Andy Gómez. Foto: x.com/asgomez1/
43 per cent of Latinos surveyed said that work and the economy were the most important issue. The second topic was immigration, with 36 per cent, and 31 per cent said abortion. Here we can see the motivation of Latinos to vote in this election.Angie Ocampo
The academic assures that the economy is a topic that has played an important role in increasing Trump's popularity.
“A lot of Latinos aren't happy with the state of the economy. For that reason, some are more inclined towards Trump. Vice President Harris, in reality, is a little less strong on the subject of the economy,” she said.
Gómez believes that both Republicans and Democrats have been unable to offer solutions on immigration and recalls how a year ago, in the Senate.
“Republicans and Democrats reached an agreement to reform immigration law. Trump called Republican leaders and asked them not to pass the law and he fell.
“Trump's argument is that part of the problem in the United States, crime, comes through immigrants, which is totally absurd. But the Democrats haven't been able to clarify and try to take a position on what immigration law is and how you can legally control who enters and doesn't enter."
Both experts agree that the results of this presidential election are uncertain.
Listen to the report with the voices of the experts by clicking on the podcast located at the top of the page.
