Latinos came out to vote in this election, and the end result was that they flexed their muscles backing winners in both parties.
Latinos are being credited with keeping the Senate in the hands of the Democrats by backing Harry Reid in Nevada, Barbara Boxer in California, and Micheal Bennet in Colorado.
That being said, the GOP fielded three Hispanic candidates for major office while the Democrats did not have a single Latino. GOP Latinos defeated Democrats in Texas, Idaho and in the State of Washington.
Nevada Latinos may have come out to vote for Harry Reid, but they also voted for Latino Republican Brian Sandoval for Governor. The new governor of New Mexico, Susana Martinez, is a Republican, and was supported by Democrat leaning Hispanic voters. Both Martinez and Sandoval are the first Latino Governors of their respective States, and of course we can’t forget about Marco Rubio in Florida.
Point being, it is disingenuous to paint a broad brushstroke over the Hispanic electorate’s voting trend in this last election because both parties enjoyed broad support from Latino voters. It will be very interesting to see how these candidates repay the Hispanic electorate for their vote.
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