Latino voter turnout is growing in Arizona. Senate hopefuls are trying to win support

Latino voters made up roughly a quarter of Arizona voters who cast a ballot in 2020, according to NALEO Educational Fund, a nonprofit that works to increase Latino political participation. That's a nearly 20% increase in their share from 2016 and a roughly 58% increase in the number of Latino Arizonans voting from 2016.

But Junior Lopez, a boxing instructor in Phoenix, wasn't one of them.

He didn't vote in the midterms either.

So how did Lopez, a self-described political novice, end up hosting U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is running for the U.S. Senate, at his gym on the border of Phoenix and Glendale, Arizona?

Lopez said he had questions.

"I kind of wanted to know, be informed a little bit of what's going on, [who] is he, what is he bringing to the community and stuff like that," Lopez said.

It's events like this one, which Lopez helped organize — a watch party for an all-Mexican boxing match over Cinco de Mayo weekend, where Gallego, a Democrat, ran focus mitt drills with local kids and mingled with potential voters — that are an opportunity to find answers.

And not just for Lopez.

Latino voter turnout is expected to swell in swing states like Arizona, a trend that voting data indicates should help Democrats like Gallego in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

Just like four years ago, nearly 1 in 4 Arizona voters in the upcoming elections is expected to be Latino, according to recent projections by NALEO.

"It's a good thing for us to know what's going on," Lopez said of the predominantly Latino community at his gym last Saturday.

"A little more information doesn't hurt nobody."

Gallego seeks to engage Latino voters early in election cycle

In 2020, exit polls in Arizona showed that about 61% of Latino voters favored candidate