To: Interested Parties
From: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Date: September 16, 2024
Subject: Democrats Are Working To Ensure Latino Voters Help Deliver The House Majority
As the 2024 cycle heads to a close, House Democrats are in a strong position to retake the majority. This strength comes, in part, from our deep engagement with crucial voting blocs, including Latino voters who stand poised to help deliver the House majority for Democrats.
House Democrats have been working hard all cycle to meaningfully engage Latino voters who will be casting deciding votes in key congressional races across the battlefield. In addition to our work to engage these voters, there continues to be increased enthusiasm and momentum in the presidential contest, with some noting the increased support for Vice President Harris from Latinos as a “Latino reset.”
LATINO MAKEUP SIZEABLE VOTING POPULATIONS IN KEY DISTRICTS
Across our congressional battlefield, Latino voters make up sizable voting populations in key districts that Democrats are targeting. Nine of the DCCC’s Red to Blue districts have a Latino voting age population over 15 percent. This includes districts where Latino voters make up the majority of voters in the district in the Central Valley (CA-13 and CA-22) and in South Texas (TX-15). Latinos will cast decisive votes in other Red to Blue districts in California including CA-27, CA-41, and CA-45 where Latinos make up 20 percent or more of the voting age population.
Eight of our Frontline districts have sizable Latino populations, above 15 percent. This includes Latino majority Frontline districts in South Texas (TX-34) and New Mexico (NM-02). Beyond that, we have strong Frontliners in districts with Latino voting age populations above 25 percent in Colorado (CO-08) and Nevada (NV-01 and NV-04).
In New York, Latino voters make-up a crucial margin in districts where over 12% of the voting population is Latino (NY-04, NY-17, and NY-18).
HISTORIC LATINO ENGAGEMENT PAID MEDIA
This year we announced an historic $35 million investment in order to persuade and mobilize voters of color, including Latino voters in some of these key districts. In addition to polling and focus groups (in English and Spanish), this also included a first-of-its-kind media consumption research on our congressional battlefield to better understand where Latinos were spending their time online.
This cutting edge research was then leveraged for the DCCC’s in-house paid media program aimed at persuading and mobilizing Latinos. This paid media – which has included early digital, radio, and mail ads – has helped to tout some of the key issues that Latino voters have shared through polling and focus groups that were most important to them, including talking about how Democrats have worked to lower the costs of prescription medication while also working tirelessly to protect abortion rights.
ABORTION CONTINUES TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE FOR LATINOS
Abortion continues to be an important electoral issue for Latinos. A recent poll found that 71 percent of Latinos oppose making abortion illegal. The number is even higher (74 percent) for Latinos who identify as Catholic.
Beyond just supporting abortion rights, polling shows that nearly 8-in-10 Latinos view the issue of abortion as an important issue in determining how they will vote in this election. Which means this issue is becoming more and more of an electoral liability for Republicans.
House Democrats have made their support for abortion a central issue in this election, framed as a broader fight to protect women’s freedoms in both English and Spanish. Latino male candidates like Rep. Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) and Tony Vargas (NE-02) have made their intention to protect women’s rights clear. In Florida, Lucia Báez-Geller (FL-27) wrote a personal op-ed in English and Spanish about getting an abortion for an unviable pregnancy and the fight to protect that same freedom for all Floridians. Meanwhile in Texas, Michelle Vallejo (TX-15) has spoken out about the draconian abortion laws that her opponent celebrated.
By contrast, MAGA Republicans have tried to hide their history of support for taking away people’s rights. Noticias Telemundo exposed Republican Monica De La Cruz for scrubbing her website of her extremist anti-abortion views. And most recently La Opinion reported on Republican Gabe Evans’ opposition to abortion even in cases of rape or incest.
REPUBLICANS HAVE ABANDONED LATINO OUTREACH EFFORTS ACROSS THE BATTLEFIELD
House Democrats’ meaningful engagement with Latinos stands in stark contrast to Republicans who have spent this cycle trying to explain away why they quickly closed most of their Hispanic “community centers,” including in key districts in Arizona, Connecticut, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Texas. One publication described these efforts as “little more than a mirage.”
BOTTOM LINE
Latino voters will play a significant role in determining which party wins control of the House, and are a crucial part of the path to victory for Democrats. Democrats are clear-eyed about the vital need to earn their vote. Through a sophisticated and multi-faceted approach, we have been communicating with Latinos in key districts across the country on television, digital, radio, and mail; through in-person and phone conversations; and by engaging local and national media in English and Spanish about how Democrats have and will continue to deliver on the key issues most important to Latino voters. |
