Mitch Perry
Although Donald Trump has said that “the Hispanics love me,” a poll taken of 400 registered Florida Latinos that was released last week shows that’s not the case.
A survey by the political opinion research group Latino Decisions shows that 73 percent of Florida Latinos view the GOP presidential front-runner as “very unfavorably.”
An additional 11 percent view him as “somewhat unfavorably.”
In a Trump-Hillary Clinton general election scenario in Florida in the fall, the real estate mogul fares extremely poorly, with Clinton taking him 69 percent to 18 percent.
The numbers shouldn’t be surprising, as Trump has consistently fared horribly with the growing demographic since he kicked off his presidential campaign last June by declaring that, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best … They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
His anti-Latino remarks have cost him several business partners since then, including NBCUniversal, which aired Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice” and co-owns the Miss Universe Organization.
In comparison, 45 percent of Florida Latinos view Ted Cruz unfavorably; 37 percent of Florida Latinos view Hillary Clinton unfavorably; 36 percent of Florida Latinos view John Kasich unfavorably, and 35 percent of Latinos in Florida view Bernie Sanders unfavorably.
When asked what are the most important issues in the race, Florida Latino voters ranked the economy/jobs first at 47 percent, immigration second at 24 percent, terrorism at 14 percent, health care at 13 percent , and education at 11 percent. However, when asked “what are the most important issues facing the Latino community that you think Congress and the President should address?, Florida Latino voters ranked immigration first at 34 percent, followed by the economy/jobs (33 percent), health care (15 percent), education (11 percent), and anti-Latino or anti-immigrant discrimination (9 percent).
“For us this election has been very different than previous elections—this year voter education is much higher, said Serena Perez, Organizing Coordinator of New Florida Majority, in a conference call organized by the group American Voices last week (American Voices commissioned the poll). “Latinos know who these candidates are, they have a clear understanding of what is at stake and why they want to register to vote. The enthusiasm to vote that we see in the polling data is apparent on the ground. This campaign cycle more than any other has inspired anxiety, especially among young people, that the little that the community has gained through DACA and potentially DAPA, could be taken, and that has been extremely frustrating and mobilizing for the thousands of voters we’ve registered.”
Latino Decisions says that their poll of 400 interviews in Florida was conducted April 3-April 13, and carries an overall margin of error of 4.9%.
Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish, according to the respondent’s choice. Surveys were completed using a blended sample that included online surveys, and live telephone interviews on landlines and cell phones. It was part of a larger, 2,200 registered Latino national survey taken by the group.
