House Republicans see pickup opportunities in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley and are running Latino candidates from border districts who they believe will give Democratic incumbents their first real contested general election in a generation.
Senate Republicans — and Democrats as well — know that key battleground states in Arizona and Nevada, where Latinos make up 30 percent and roughly 29 percent respectively, are critical for their candidates. But Latino and Hispanic voters turn out in lower numbers, meaning that persuasion and mobilization will be critical in November for both parties. The fact that a recent Quinnipiac survey showed just 26 percent of Hispanics approved of Biden’s leadership illustrates the challenge.
But Republicans face their own issues in trying to appeal to Latinos. Some Republican lawmakers representing Latino-majority districts and political operatives have noted that Latinos are turned off by the blunt and at times racist rhetoric that Trump and some other Republicans have used to characterize the community. As the Senate Republican strategist noted, “It all comes down to tone.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member