Democrats look to Latinos to provide midterm support

PATRICIA LUGO rattled off a string of fierce adjectives describing life under the Trump administration– “ugly,” ‘’bad,” ‘’terrible.”

She joined a cluster of other Latinos in a Las Vegas shopping centre in listing grievances against the president that included referring to Mexican immigrants as rapists and separating parents from children at the border.

Lugo is determined to support Democrats as they fight back, but she’s alarmed that a handful of friends and family have given up on voting.

“They say it doesn’t do anything,” said Lugo, 56, a promoter for a footwear chain. “And it doesn’t matter who votes because [politicians] do whatever they want anyway.”

Trump rode to his improbable victory in 2016 by winning a troika of Rust Belt states where there are relatively few Latinos. This was supposed to be the election when Latinos struck back.

Many Democrats presumed that Latinos, who are largely clustered in a handful of states, would be better positioned to flex their muscles and punish the president for his actions and rhetoric targeting Latino immigrants most recently when he pledged to send troops to the border to block a northbound caravan of Central American migrants.

PROMINENT ROLE

Latinos had been poised to play a prominent role in several House races in California and Senate races in Florida and the southwest.

However, as election day nears, polling shows it’s the more affluent and predominantly white college-educated women with whom Democrats have made the most inroads, while Latinos haven’t fully turned against Trump and his Republican Party.

“Donald Trump is the most hostile president to Hispanics in American history, yet Donald Trump has between a 25 per cent and 35 per cent approval rating among some Hispanics – higher than 40 per cent in Florida,” said Fernand Amadi, a Florida-based Latino pollster.

About 25 per cent of Latino voters are reliable Republicans, but others seem willing to support the GOP amid the solid economy.

“From their perspective, this Trump’s crazy and a bigoted loudmouth, but we deal with people like this in every day of our lives,” Amadi said.

AP In this October 17 photo, members of the Culinary Union listen to Democratic candidates during an event at the union hall in Las Vegas. Latinos have a spotty track record in midterm elections. The Democrats need heavy Latino support to win several Senate races and take back control of the House.