LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Hispanics in Nevada responding to an Emerson College poll said the economy was the number one issue in the community, but neither Democrats nor Republicans could be trusted to do anything about inflation.
The poll used a combination of a survey and a series of focus groups to examine Hispanic opinions. Data was collected July 8-18 from 627 Hispanic Nevadans with a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. Three focus groups followed in Las Vegas on July 25-26, with attendees paying $125 for their time. The citations provided here were obtained from the focus groups.
The economy was named as the most important issue by 37% of the survey participants, followed by housing (15%), social justice issues (6%) and local issues, poverty and the environment (4% each). Crime, gun violence, immigration, and politics each received 3%, and abortion and education each received 2%.
Democrats and Republicans will not do anything about inflation, according to 32% of respondents. “Wages aren’t going up, but everything else is,” says a 51-year-old voter who doesn’t identify with either party.
Housing, the top issue for 15% in the survey, is the top concern of Hispanics 45-54 – 34% of this group identified housing as the top issue in the community.
“Landlords can just insanely raise rents to levels that people can’t afford. And no one is doing anything about it,” said a 52-year-old man who identified himself as a Democrat. An unregistered 43-year-old single mother echoed his frustration: “I finally got enough money for a good down payment, I thought. Even enough to maybe get an RV, but suddenly the prices of everything go up and now there isn’t even enough for anything.”
For issues, the poll asked which party respondents agreed with on the economy, taxes, social spending, abortion, immigration, and public safety/policing. The poll showed that more Nevada Hispanics were more likely to agree with Democrat policies, but “neither party” was not far behind. Republican positions garnered approval from only 17-21% of Hispanics polled.
Hispanic voters in Nevada are often perceived as an important voice in elections, with the power to make a major impact on election results when there is solid support for an issue or candidate. Abortion could be such an issue in the upcoming elections.
Overall, 34% of Hispanics in Nevada agree with the Democratic Party’s view on abortion, while 17% agree with Republicans. Hispanic voters are more aligned with Democrats and Republicans at 44% to 27%, while unregistered citizens are more unaffiliated at 48%.
“I’m Catholic,” said a 53-year-old Puerto Rican woman. “The church doesn’t believe in abortion, but I believe everyone has the right to choose.” She continued, “I just think it’s a medical procedure. That’s kind of like taking away your right to have a defibrillator or a pacemaker or something, you know?”
Looking at President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Hispanics from Nevada expressed these views:
“There is consensus in focus groups that the economy is worse under Biden’s leadership compared to Trump’s,” said the pollster. There was praise and criticism for Trump. “(Trump) is great for the United States economy,” said a 30-year-old registered Democrat who is now allied with Republicans. A 48-year-old Democrat claimed, “I don’t think he’s smart for business because he’s gone bankrupt seven times.”
Focus groups showed distrust of the media, but a majority of Hispanic Nevada voters (51%) said they rely on cable or network news for political information. Of unregistered Hispanics, 35% rely on cable or network news and 32% turn to social media.
Facebook was the top social channel for news at 26%, followed by YouTube (19%, Tik Tok and Instagram (10% each), Twitter (4%), Snapchat (2%) and Reddit (1%).
First-generation Hispanics are more than twice as likely to vote along the party line, according to the poll.
Among Hispanics who are not registered to vote, 34% said they are not registered because their “vote won’t change anything” — a sentiment shared by some inactive voters. When a 40-year-old registered independent voter was asked why she did not vote in the last presidential election and switched from the Democratic Party to an independent voter, she said: “I felt that no party was worth voting for her to vote to be honest. I didn’t feel like it. It made no difference.”
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