Where the Top Democratic Primary Candidates Stand with Latino Voters

Which of the Democrats will win over Latinos in the primaries? While it´s still not clear, there is one thing that is: the Latino vote could swing the Democratic primary. Although Latinos are not homogenous in their opinions on practically anything (abortion, immigration, religion, etc.), the Democrat who wins the Latino vote in the primary is likely to be the one who best denounces the racism that has swept the country under the Trump administration, an opinion that somehow manages to unify this diverse voting group. In a USA Today poll, 70 percent of Latino voters felt that Trump’s rhetoric has encouraged anti-immigrant sentiment, racism or discrimination in the U.S. 

As of early December, the Democratic presidential contest in California — a state that has tremendous sway in predicting the outcome of the primary across the nation — remains fluid. A poll for the Los Angeles Times found that both Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who was the frontrunner in California in September, and former Vice President Joe Biden, lost ground among California´s Democratic primary voters. This drop in votes gave Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who narrowly tops the primary field, a boost. It has also helped Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., who has doubled his support in the state since the last September poll. As for the controversial former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg and his chances of seducing Latino voters in the next months, the odds are low. 

At this point in the race Latino, democratic voters are not sticking with a set candidate, but are still open to changing their opinions. So where do the candidates stand with Latino voters and their issues? Here´s a look at what the remaining candidates have been doing right and what they´ve been doing wrong to win their vote.

3Joe Biden

Having name recognition has helped Latinos believe in him, though there isn´t much to applaud about Biden´s outreach to Latinos per se. For starters, he was noticeably absent from the California Democratic Party Endorsing Convention and experts say this did not go unnoticed by Latino voters. On top of that, Politico reported that in November Biden had a falling out with Vanessa Cárdenas, his most senior Latina staffer, who was in charge of outreach to Latino, African-American, and women’s groups. Her allies said that she was frustrated over her lack of input and with the presidential candidate’s immigration rhetoric and poor outreach.

Next, the Washington Post reported that deportations are lower in the Trump administration than they were when Biden was in office during the Obama administration where he earned the nickname “deporter in chief”  by activists. Finally, Biden aroused controversy recently when he declined to speak at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.