Latino voters in more than half a dozen battleground states are firmly in support of gun violence reform and abortion access, a survey of more than 1,000 registered voters said. The online polling, commissioned by Voto Latino and conducted by Change Research, found that 86% of Latinos feel that mass shootings are “either a crisis or major issue,” and support background checks on all guns, banning the sale of high-capacity magazines, and banning the sale of assault weapons.
“Latinos also fear for their reproductive freedoms as the conservative majority on the Supreme Court indicates it is prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade,” Voto Latino said (polling results were released just hours before the Supreme Court’s right-wing justices overturned Roe v. Wade and ended federal protection for abortion rights). “Over two-thirds of Latinos support the right to an abortion in all or most cases.”
RELATED STORY: Uvalde community isn't getting Spanish-language updates from Texas Department of Public Safety
Campaign Action
”A strong majority of Latinos are concerned about their personal safety from gun violence and believe weak gun laws are a major reason why perpetrators are capable of inflicting such carnage,” Voto Latino said. Survey findings included registered Latino voters from Texas, where mass shootings have devastated Latino communities twice since 2019. Fear is palpable in the survey results as 69% say they worry “a lot” or “some” about their safety in public places.
Background checks on all gun purchases received the widest support, with 82% strongly in favor. Sixty-eight percent strongly support raising the gun purchase age to 21, while 64% strongly support mandatory waiting periods. Fifty-two percent strongly support banning the sale of high-capacity magazines, with almost the same percentage strongly supporting banning the sale of assault weapons at 53%.
“Latinos are also ready to reward leaders who take action on gun laws: an overwhelming 69% are more likely to support candidates who support the gun laws tested in this poll, including roughly half of Republican Latinos,” Voto Latino said. Survey respondents also included registered Latinos in Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
Survey findings also found that Latino respondents were firmly in support of abortion rights. “More than two-thirds of Latinos believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases (41% legal in all cases, 27% legal in most cases) and only 10% believe abortion should be illegal in all cases,” Voto Latino said. “Support for abortion rights is particularly strong with women and those under the age of 35.”
Sixty-five percent of surveyed Latinos say they would support law codifying abortion rights. “68% of Independents and 90% of Democrats say they would support such a law,” Voto Latino said. The polling finds the majority have paid attention to the leaked forced birth decision from this past spring. “Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Latinos are more motivated to vote in November as a result of this opinion and 52% are much more motivated,” Voto Latino said. “It is also motivating to 52% of Latinos who did not vote in 2020.”
“At a time when mass shootings and attacks on abortion access are front and center in our national politics, Latino voters are looking for candidates who support common sense gun policy as well as reproductive rights,” said Voto Latino President Maria Teresa Kumar. “These issues aren’t liabilities for progressive candidates looking for Latino support–they’re a major selling point. In battleground states, Latino voters stand squarely behind Democratic policies on these flashpoint issues.”
RELATED STORIES:
Voto Latino, Media Matters to kick off campaign targeting vaccine misinformation in Latino community
'Adiós Sinema': Voto Latino announces campaign to replace Arizona senator
Democrats can't take working-class Black and Latino voters for granted. Data shows they have been
Joe Sudbay returns to geek out with Kerry Eleveld and Cara Zelaya on the Democratic Party must do, what they are doing, and what they aren’t doing on Daily Kos' The Brief podcast
