Keystone Today

Recent polls have shown that the Hispanic demographic, which has historically voted Democratic and makes up 19% of the national population and 7% of the Pennsylvania population, is leaning toward the Republican Party.

According to a recent New York Times-Siena College poll, among Hispanic voters Democrats are statistically tied with Republicans on the generic congressional ballot. This is a huge political shift among this demographic, as the Democrats had a 47-point lead with Hispanics during the 2018 midterms. Axios calls the shift the “biggest political story of our time.” Axios said that Hispanics living on the U.S.-Mexico border are more likely to favor things like a tougher border security measure that has been championed by Republicans.

Fox News recently tweeted, “Hispanic voters predict red wave, say Democrats use handouts and rhetoric to appease minorities” while posting an article in which three Hispanic American voters said they feel the Democrats have “lost touch” with the working class.

"The Democrats really lost working-class people," Chris Formoso, a first-generation Cuban, and father of four, who told Fox News that the Democrats “really lost working-class people” and have “absolutely lost their minds.”

“There is no way we could vote for them, especially when Republicans have been more focused on the issues that matter,” Formoso said to Fox News.

Hector Olmo, a Puerto Rican retired police officer living in New Jersey, told Fox News he believes Democrats are “embracing socialist ideas” and also “turning away Hispanic voters.”

"It's just been a downward spiral," he told Fox News, citing skyrocketing inflation, record-high gas prices and rising crime rates across major U.S. cities. "There’s been no self-correction.”

The Washington Times reported that minority-owned small businesses are being affected by crime across the country, and it is most apparent in major cities. Francisco Marte is the president of the Bodega and Small Business Association, which represents 16,000 bodegas in New York City. He told the Washington Times that crime is rampant and driving Hispanic voters away from the Democratic Party. He said there has been inaction from New Yorkers in Congress like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying that she is “in favor of criminals,” “too liberal” and “in favor of the DA.”

According to a USA Today opinion piece by DaQuawn Bruce, inflation is a hidden tax on poor people and it disproportionally affects people of color. A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in June showed that the inflation rate for Blacks was 0.2% higher than the national average. For Hispanics it was approximately 0.6% higher.

The U.S. Census Bureau says that the Hispanic population in the U.S. reached 62.1 million in 2020. It is the second largest racial group behind White Americans. In Pennsylvania 7.31% of the population is Hispanic, amounting to 935,216.