Democrats in New York are regrouping after the party lost ground with Latino voters in the 2024 election.
President-elect Donald Trump won 54% of the vote from Latino men despite a comedian making offensive jokes about Puerto Rico at a rally for Trump at Madison Square Garden, which precipitated a last ditch get-out-the-vote effort.
“Many of the Latinos are more conservative when it comes to the social justice talk — we have to acknowledge that,” Henry Garrido, who runs New York City’s largest public-sector union and hails from the Dominican Republic, told Politico. “For us, it’s the economy. Not at the macro level, but, Am I feeling the pinch in my own work? Do I have to work overtime?”
Garrido told Politico his members were upset that migrants bused to New York City were being put up in hotels while they were struggling to find affordable housing.
“While they were struggling to fight for economic justice, [migrants] were given debit cards,” Garrido said. They were getting healthcare when we’re trying to fight for the very healthcare we have fought for in our collective bargaining agreements.”
Latinos were turned off by Democrats focusing on social issues rather than pocketbook concerns. More than half of Latinos identify as Catholic or evangelical, Politico reported.
“For some Latinos, they care about equity, they care about fairness, but sometimes abortion is not a priority for them. Gender rights are not a priority,” state lawmaker Karines Reyes told Politico. “Not that it’s not important, it’s just not a priority. They were voting on their priority. Those priorities were clearly the pocketbook issues.”
Democrats also discovered immigration was not a powerful motivator for Latinos, ranking below the economy in a survey from the Hispanic Federation.