Recent studies by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center show that Latino voters will make up 12.8 percent of all eligible voters, including the four million citizens age 18 or older who reached voting age between 2014 and 2018. There are an estimated 29 million eligible Latino voters this year.<\/p>\n
While many Latino registered voters are concerned about immigration policy, like most voters they also are interested in knowing how elected officials are addressing core issues such as education, jobs, and the economy, according to a UConn political science professor studying Latino voters.<\/p>\n
\nIf you took a survey of Latinos and asked what is their most concerning issue, education and the economy would be in the top five. — Beth Ginsberg<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Beth Ginsberg, assistant professor-in-residence of political science at UConn\u2019s Stamford campus, is using U.S. Census data since 2000 while conducting her own research on Presidential elections to study Latino voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs with other groups in the United States, a primary concern for any Latino voter is both the economy and education,\u201d says Ginsberg, who teaches a class titled Electoral Behavior. \u201cIf you took a survey of Latinos and asked what is their most concerning issue, education and the economy would be in the top five. And that\u2019s throughout any Latino subgroup. It\u2019s too easy to just assume that Latinos are only concerned about immigration. I think it simplifies them, which is not the way to look at it. Latinos have a variety of issues and concerns and policy issues that worry them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pew notes that 71 percent of eligible Latino voters live in six states \u2013 California, Texas, Florida, New York, Arizona, and Illinois. Yet three of the Congressional districts with the largest growth in Latino eligible voters in 2018 are in North Carolina.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorth Carolina and Nevada have some of the largest growth in Latino population in the country,\u201d says Ginsberg. \u201cThat\u2019s where the jobs are. It\u2019s not just about Latinos. People go where the jobs are. Migration is often economically motivated.”<\/p>\n
In her personal research, Ginsberg has found Latinos of various different ethnicities and backgrounds in communities in Florida, California, and Texas, where growth is strong.<\/p>\n
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina added 1,000 in August and Nevada added 1,200, with both states setting new highs for total employment. North Carolina has 4.5 million people employed, and Nevada has more than 1.3 million workers.<\/p>\n
A recent poll by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials found that 84 percent of voters said participating in the Nov. 6 election is \u201cimportant,\u201d compared to 63 percent indicating that in 2016.<\/p>\n
Ginsberg says Florida\u2019s election presents an interesting study in voter behavior this year, after many Puerto Rican citizens left the island last year and settled in Florida following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, and given the Sunshine State\u2019s dual U.S. Senate and gubernatorial election races.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Puerto Rican voters in Florida] may have ramifications for the election this year,\u201d she says. \u201cThey don\u2019t behave politically the same way as the traditional Cuban population in Florida. There\u2019s been some interest in their political behavior in Florida. These voters are not single issue voters, focused on one topic. They focus on a multitude of issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
She adds that the presence or absence of Latino candidates also will affect voting and election turnout. Latinos will look for a co-ethnic on the ballot before considering another Latino \u2013 such as a Puerto Rican voter looking for a Cuban candidate\u00a0\u2013 before moving on to vote for other candidates.<\/p>\n
\nThe idea that our younger generation is apathetic or uninterested is truly incorrect. — Beth Ginsberg<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Students currently in Ginsberg\u2019s Electoral Behavior class will conduct a Voter Education Day on Oct. 23 in Stamford, speaking with other students about the importance of participating in the upcoming Nov. 6 midterm elections. The voter education effort will also include a voter registration campaign; a similar campaign in 2016 resulted in 30 new voters registered during the Presidential election.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur students are engaged and want to be engaged, and are interested in working on making the future better for themselves,\u201d says Ginsberg. \u201cThe idea that our younger generation is apathetic or uninterested is truly incorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ginsberg was selected as a Service Learning Faculty Fellow in 2016, and incorporated voter education into her class in Stamford during the Presidential election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose the Electoral Behavior Class to incorporate service learning because I really wanted students to move beyond what\u2019s written in the book about why people are voting and about voting in this country and campaigns, and actually be engaged in it,\u201d she says. \u201cThese students are engaged, passionate, interested, and they want to be involved in society.\u201d<\/p>\n
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