Former President Donald Trump saw a massive surge in support from Hispanic voters with the two major media exit polls showing him with at least 43% of their votes.
His strong showing helped power him to fairly easy victories in such heavily Hispanic states as Florida and Texas, where exit polling showed him winning a majority of Latino voters.
CNN’s exit polling data Tuesday night showed Mr. Trump with 45% of the Hispanic vote and Vice President Kamala Harris with 51%. CNN is part of a consortium with ABC, NBC and CBS.
Fox News’ Voter Analysis election polling showed Mr. Trump with 40% support among Latinos, and Ms. Harris with 56%. Fox is part of a consortium with The Associated Press and NORC at the University of Chicago.
Mr. Trump drew just 28% support of Hispanics in his 2016 run and 32% in 2020, according to CNN’s exit polls.
Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the Job Creators Network, said Hispanic voters powered Republican wins across the map Tuesday.
“Republicans’ stands on illegal immigration, the economy, small business, public safety, and defending faith resonated with Hispanic voters across America,” he said.
UnidosUS, a leading Latino group, said Hispanic voters went big for Ms. Harris in places like Pennsylvania while Mr. Trump led in Florida.
UnidosUS was part of a group of left-leaning organizations that sponsored their own election poll, including more than 3,600 Hispanic voters.
“The poll also revealed that Latino voters were driven to the polls by their concerns over pocketbook issues, including the cost of living, jobs and the economy, housing affordability and health care costs,” UnidosUS said.
Left out of that list was immigration — an issue where left-wing advocates had warned that Mr. Trump’s stance on strict enforcement might cost him support.
Mr. Trump, though, had said the border chaos hit Hispanic communities in the U.S. particularly hard.
The previous modern high for a Republican presidential nominee was President George W. Bush in 2004, when he got somewhere around 40% of the Hispanic vote.
Analysts have heatedly debated the exact figure, with the major exit poll at the time saying it was 44% but academics questioned the methodology, saying it oversampled GOP-friendly Cuban voters.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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