A new national poll reveals that, in advance of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, Latino voters favor Democratic Party congressional candidates over Republicans by a substantial margin — albeit less than previous election cycles.
For the NBC News/Telemundo survey, which chronicled the English- and Spanish-speaking responses of 1,000 Latino registered voters over a 10-day span (Sept. 17-26), 54% say they prefer Democrats to control Congress moving forward, compared to 33% wanting the Republicans in charge.
The Democrats' 21-point lead may be significant, but it's also tangibly less than similar Latino-based, pre-election polls from previous years — such as October 2020 (26 percentage points), November 2018 (34 points), October 2016 (38 points), and October 2012 (42 points).
For those surveyed in California, Democrats had a 30-point advantage with in-state Latinos, 29 points with Latina women, and 27 points among Catholic Latinos.
For those polled in Florida, Democrat candidates had a 7-point edge with in-state Latinos, 9 points among Latino men, and 15 points among non-Catholic Latinos.
"While Latinos continue to lean toward the Democratic Party and prefer Democratic control of Congress, Republicans have a higher share of the vote than we've measured previously," said Democratic pollster Aileen Cardona-Arroyo of Hart Research Associates, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff and the team at Public Opinion Strategies.
"Being down by 20 points is a lot better [for Republicans] than being down by 40 points," added McInturff, while referring to past NBC/Telemundo studies of Latino voters.
As Newsmax chronicled in June, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., says the Latino and Hispanic communities in her South Florida district — which account for roughly 73% of the area's constituents — are buying into the messaging of the modern Republican Party.
"The Hispanics are waking up, and that's why we need to embrace them into our party," said Salazar, while appearing on "Spicer & Co." then.
Salazar said Latinos and Hispanics share the Republicans' beliefs in coveting a country that's full of God-fearing, law-abiding and family-oriented citizens, who also want lower taxes, smaller government, and free-market opportunities to support the American dream.
According to a recent Cook Political report, the House Republicans' projected gained seats have slipped from 20-35 to 10-20 due to several factors, including the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24 (by a 5-4 vote).
The NBC/Telemundo survey also polled Latino registered voters on President Joe Biden's job-approval status, with 51% approving and 45% disapproving.
Additionally, the survey results favor the Democrats being in control of issues such as abortion rights and health care. However, for matters involving crime prevention and the economy, the Latino voters surveyed prefer the Republicans being in power.
"Latinos are an incredibly diverse community, and there are many segments of Latino voters — not just one Latino voter," said Cardona-Arroyo.
The NBC News/Telemundo survey has a margin-of-error rate of 3.1%.