Latino support for Biden was lagging. Harris gives Democrats a chance to win some back

Latino voters were a key part of the coalition that helped deliver President Biden to the White House in 2020, but a number of polls heading into this year’s election showed the president’s support among Latinos slipping.

Now, though, Biden is out, and Vice President Harris has taken his place atop the Democratic ticket. With Harris, the party has an opportunity to win many of those voters back.

In the last several election cycles, Democrats nationally have won anywhere from about 60% to more than 70% of the Latino vote. Surveys this year showed Biden below that level.

“I've never seen a candidate shed so many Latino voters like Biden was losing,” said Daniel Garza, president of the Libre Initiative, a group working to mobilize Latinos to support conservative policies and candidates.

“A lot of that has to do with the kind of policies that have been advanced by the Biden administration, referred to as Bidenomics, that are not offering Latinos a square deal,” he said. “I mean, a lot of Latinos are scraping their knees in prayer that they'll make it from one week to the next because their wages haven't caught up to inflation.”

While inflation has slowed in recent months, many Americans still report unease at the cost of basic necessities. Garza said those economic realities create an opening for Republicans to appeal to Latino voters who would have otherwise voted for Democrats.

But Clarissa Martinez, a Latino vote expert with the advocacy group UnidosUS, said that's an overly simplistic view of the shift that has been happening among Latino voters ahead of this election.

“What was happening on the Democratic side is that an increasing number of people — which we have seen that trend with young voters in particular, and