A recently published Arizona State University election survey shows Arizona’s Latino voters’ concerns and preferences.
Overseen by two ASU research centers focused on Hispanics and Latinos, the wide-ranging survey asked registered voters their thoughts on the presidential election, national issues, state ballot propositions on immigration and abortion, as well as Arizona’s U.S. Senate race.
Francisco Pedraza, associate professor at ASU’s Center for Latino/a’s American Politics Research Center and Stella Rouse, director of ASU’s Hispanic Research Center, presented their findings on Tuesday evening at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s First Amendment Forum in downtown Phoenix.
The survey found registered Arizona Latino voters nearly 51% support for Vice President Kamala Harris for president is comparable to the support she has among Latino registered voters nationwide and general Arizona registered voters — 52% and 51%, respectively. Arizona Latino registered voters support former President Donald Trump for a second term by 32%, while 36% of voters nationwide and nearly 38% of general registered Arizona voters back the Republican nominee, according to the survey.
There remained a sizable percentage of Latino registered voters surveyed who were either undecided, voting for someone other than Harris or Trump or not voting. This group reflected 17% of Arizona Latino registered voters and nearly 21% of Latino registered voters nationwide in the survey’s findings.
Polls:Trump maintains narrow lead over Harris in latest AZ polls, but race is close
The survey also revealed that Proposition 314, which would in part criminalize unauthorized border crossings at a local and state level and empower state judges to order deportations, had a majority support by Latino registered voters. Respondents said they were at roughly 45% somewhat or strongly in support.
But when fentanyl was mentioned in the survey, support for the ballot measure among registered Arizona Latino registered voters shot up to roughly 54%.
Pedraza explained that as a survey, follow-up questions are not made, including whether respondents understand fentanyl mostly enters the country through ports of entry and not literally past the border.
Community advocacy groups like Living United for Change in Arizona have repeatedly rallied against the measure since it was being crafted in the state Legislature. However, Pedraza and Rousse argued the intensity seen during protests in 2010 that opposed Senate Bill 1070 has been lagging during this election cycle.
Meanwhile, Latino registered voters and general registered voters were closely aligned in the survey on who they will support in the state’s U.S. Senate race between Democratic U.S. House Rep. Ruben Gallego and Republican TV personality Kari Lake. General registered voters planned to vote for Gallego over Lake 47% to 31%.Gallego, who if elected would become Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator, actually fared slightly better with general registered voters than with Latino registered voters, who planned to vote for him over Lake 45% to 31%.
The survey was conducted online between Sept. 23-Oct. 11. It included a national sample size of 3,399 with an overall 1.7% margin of error, an Arizona registered voter sample size of 1,213 with a 2.8% margin of error and an Arizona Latino registered voter sample size of 440 with a 4.7% margin of error.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
