For immediate Release
Contact:
Adriana Alarcón
Survey Shows Latino Voters are Up for
Grabs
“This survey shows very positive signs,” said TLC President Robert de
Posada. “Nearly 70% of Latinos
believe their children will have a better quality of life than they did, only
12% said worse. This result shows that even through tough economic times,
Latinos have hope in the future and believe that things will get better in the
months and years ahead.”
“However, the survey also shows deep concerns in their daily lives and
their future,” de Posada added. “A
significant majority of Latinos have a negative opinion of our public education
system, our health care programs and the current status of our immigration
system. They strongly support
reform and quick action to address these
issues.”
This survey shows three major areas of interest: 1) there is a much
more competitive environment for the Latino vote; 2) Latino adults are a force
for reform on important national issues: and, 3) there are rising concerns for
immigration issues post 9/11. It
also shows that there is a significant vacuum in leadership in the U.S. Latino
community.
When asked which national Latino leader living today they most admire,
almost 75% of Latinos could not identify a single leader. Of those who did mention a name, the
most admired was Mexican President Vicente Fox (3.7%). He was followed by former HUD Secretary
Henry Cisneros (1.8%) and Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez (1.3%). Congressman Luis Gutierrez was the only
Latino elected official with significant
support.
On the political front, there
is a much more competitive environment for the Latino vote. President Bush’s effort to reach out to
Latino voters has generated impressive results. Not only did his job approval rating
reach 68%, but it reached 74% among non-registered voters. In a significant show of strength from
last year’s survey, President Bush now beats Al Gore 50-35% among Latino
voters. Last year the former Vice
President was defeating President Bush by a 54-28% margin in our survey.
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Page 2 of 3
2002 National Hispanic Survey Press
Release
August 20, 20002
The President’s popularity appears to have strong coattails for
congressional Republicans.
Republicans in Congress enjoyed a significant increase in the job
approval from 23% in 2001 to 42% this year. While the approval number for Democrats
in Congress remained the same, their negative rating nearly doubled from 13% in
2001 to 25% this year. In a generic
ballot for Congress, Democrats’ lead almost vanished from a 34-point margin
(51-17%) last year to a 12-point margin (44-32%) this
year.
“While there is a much more positive image for Republicans, if individual
candidates do not show the same kind of interest and concern for Latinos and
their issues, as the President has, the coattails immediately evaporate,” de
Posada added. “This is the case in
“Clearly Latinos now see the Republican Party as the party of President
George W. Bush. And this is a
significant boost for Republican candidates across the board,” de Posada
said. “Hispanics are
becoming more and more independent when it comes to politics. The results of this study are
clearly a wake-up call for both major political parties. The days of one party writing off this
block of voters, and the other party taking them for granted, are over. That is if they want to be the majority
party in
Latino adults are a force
for reform on important national issues. On the efforts to address the uninsured
crisis, Latinos overwhelmingly support the President’s effort to provide a
$3,000 tax subsidy to uninsured workers (84.6%). When asked if they prefer a
government-run health care coverage like Medicaid to cover the uninsured, only
38% supported this idea. That is
not surprising when you see that only 22% of Latino adults believe that Medicaid
is run well (64% believed it needs to be reformed). This issue could be a strong weapon for
congressional Republicans: 80% of the respondents said they would be more likely
to support a congressional candidate that supports the President’s agenda on the
uninsured.
On the issue of Medicare, once again Latinos are strong advocates for
reform. Only 20.9% of the
respondents feel Medicare is run well, compared to 65% who state it needs to be
reformed. Latinos strongly support
focusing the prescription drug coverage assistance on low-income seniors, rather
than offer an across the board plan for all seniors (73-24%). They also support allowing choices among
different plans in Medicare by a 63-30%
margin.
On education, only 39% of Latinos have a positive view of their local
public school system. They cite
drugs and violence in schools as the biggest problem facing public
education. To address the barriers
to quality educations, Latinos support increase funding for public schools over
a school voucher program by a 64-32% margin.
On one of the most controversial educational issues, Latinos strongly
believe that bilingual education programs should focus on making sure students
learn English well. Support for
native language instruction as a way to make sure that non-English speaking
students do not fall behind in other matters only has a 26% support among
Latinos.
Page 3 of 3
2002 National Hispanic Survey Press
Release
August 20, 20002
Learning English is clearly one of the most important issues for
Hispanics. When asked what they
consider to be the greatest barrier that keeps Latinos from succeeding in
There are rising concerns for
immigration issues post 9/11.
In an open-ended question, the percentage of Latinos stating that
immigration is the most important issue facing Latinos in the
While 53% of the respondents approved of the President’s handling of
immigration issues, almost 83% approve of his plan to normalize the status of
3.5 million Mexican illegal immigrants already in the
The survey also showed:
- 21% of Latinos said they, or a member of their
immediate family, is a member of a labor union or a teacher’s
association.
- Only 28% of Latinos have a 401(k) Plan for
retirement.
- 56% of Latinos own a personal computer, while 41% do
not access the internet.
- 48% of Latinos identify themselves with the Democratic
Party, compared to 23% with the Republicans.
- 68% of Latinos oppose a monopoly in the satellite
industry, concerned over the availability of Spanish-language
programming.
- 31% of Latinos feel they have been personally
discriminated in the past year.
- 56% of Latinos believe they should become more a part
of American society, even if it means losing some of their cultural
identity.
- 30% of Latinos have no health
insurance.
The Latino Coalition is a non-profit,
non-partisan organization based in
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