Salazar, the daughter of Cuban refugees, accused Trump in the clip of saying that many people held by authorities have no criminal record. “The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today,” the representative added. The background to the attack against Trump is likely to be their concern about the loss of Latino votes. Their population share is also high in Florida, where Salazar’s constituency is located.
Latinos are the largest ethnic minority group in the United States
They describe themselves as Latino USA People who have roots in Latin America. According to information from the most recent 2020 census, around 60 million of the approximately 340 million people in the USA identify as Latino, or around 19 percent. This makes them the largest group of ethnic minorities in the USA. In 1970 their share of the total population was still around 5 percent. It is predicted to continue to rise in the coming years and decades.
On average, Latinos in the United States are around 31.2 years old, younger than the country’s overall average age, which is around 39.4 years. Not everyone speaks Spanish. However, according to census data, around 40 million people speak the language at home – significantly more than any other language. Many authorities also have information and offers in Spanish.
Why are Latinos still such an important voter group?
Around 36 million Latinos are eligible to vote in this year’s midterms – the number is likely to rise significantly in the future. In the last presidential election, Latino voter turnout was around 50 percent. Although this was below the overall voter turnout, the trend in the past was – with restrictions and dips – rather upward.
In many areas of the country such as parts of Florida and Texas The proportion of Latinos in the population is significantly above average. Anyone who wants to win a presidential election in the USA cannot do so now and in the foreseeable future without their votes.
At least since the election of John F Kennedy In 1960, a large portion of Latino voters leaned Democratic. Wife Jackie Kennedy recorded the first commercial in Spanish for the election campaign that was specifically aimed at this group of voters. In recent years, the voting behavior of many Latinos has changed towards US President Trump’s Republicans.
What other important voter groups are there?
People who identify as white make up the largest portion of the country’s population, around 60 percent. People who identify as Black represent around 14 percent of the population.
In surveys, US research institutes often attach great importance to the voting behavior of women, young people and people without a college degree.
