Staff Reports
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been making gains with Latino voters, a development that could spell trouble for President Joe Biden as he seeks to rebuild the coalition that helped him win the 2020 election.
An election advocacy group, Voto Latino, recently conducted a poll of 2,000 Latino voters in five critical states — Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada, Texas, and Pennsylvania — and found that approximately one-fifth of voters favored a third-party candidate. This trend of support for third-party candidates might pose a challenge for the Biden campaign, especially as Latino voters generally hold a more favorable view of the Democratic Party.
According to Voto Latino President Maria Teresa Kumar, while Latino voters express support for Biden’s policies, they are dissatisfied with his perceived handling of the economy. This dissatisfaction has led to a decline in support for Biden when Kennedy and other third-party candidates are included in the mix. With five candidates on the ballot, support for Biden fell to 47%, support for Trump fell to 34%, and Kennedy garnered 12% of the Latino vote.
Washington Examiner: RFK Jr. pulls from Biden more than twice than Trump among Latino voters https://t.co/8kXR1VCIEQ
— Ian Hansen 🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@IanHansenFeed) June 12, 2024
Kumar also pointed out that a significant portion of the support for third-party candidates comes from women and Latinas, suggesting a real frustration with the economy among this demographic.
However, it’s worth noting that while Kennedy has gained some support from Latino voters, Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha believes that many Latino voters who lean towards third-party candidates eventually return to supporting mainstream candidates.
Despite Kennedy’s current presence on the ballot in only six states, his campaign has pledged to secure a spot on the ballot in all 50 states, indicating a potentially broader impact on the 2024 general election.
In addition to Voto Latino’s poll, other polls conducted by the New York Times/Siena College and the Philadelphia Inquirer have also found that Kennedy has been able to attract support from Latino voters in key battleground states. This growing support for Kennedy among Latino voters is something that the Biden campaign will likely need to address as the 2024 election approaches.
