Poll sheds light on Latino voter opinions in Nevada

By Megan Messerly

Friday, April 22, 2016 | 11:43 a.m.

A poll released today offers a glimpse into the role Latino voters — one of the fastest-growing voting blocs in Nevada — will play in this year’s elections, from president down to congressional races.

Not surprisingly, the poll shows significant support for Democratic candidates in Nevada. More notably, it sheds light on how Latino voters in Nevada feel about the two Democratic candidates for president and how they might vote in a series of hypothetical matchups.

The poll, conducted this month for the immigration reform group America’s Voice by Latino Decisions, surveyed 400 Latinos living in Nevada and has a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.

After the Nevada Democratic caucuses, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders claimed victory over the Latino vote in the race for president.

Entrance and exit polls of Latino voters during the caucuses indicated Sanders defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in that demographic group by about 8 percentage points, apparently bucking the notion of the Latino community’s stalwart support for Clinton.

The new poll shows Latinos have similarly favorable impressions of Clinton and Sanders, with 66 percent saying they perceive Clinton favorably compared to 67 percent for Sanders.

Thirty percent said they have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, while 23 percent said the same about Sanders.

The poll also shows a general election matchup between either Sanders or Clinton and GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump would result in a bigger victory for the Democrats among Latinos than if either Democrat was matched against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Trump has repeatedly said Latinos love him.

But in Nevada, 87 percent of Latinos view Trump unfavorably, compared to 11 percent who have a positive impression of the New York businessman.

Cruz is much less disliked, with only 53 percent of Nevada’s Latinos viewing him unfavorably and 34 percent viewing him favorably.

Twenty-seven percent viewed Ohio Gov. John Kasich favorably, with 37 percent saying they had an unfavorable impression. One in four respondents had not heard of him.

The poll also showed how Trump topping the ticket could hurt down-ballot candidates.

Republican Rep. Joe Heck, who is running for U.S. Senate, has said he would support the eventual Republican nominee. Knowing that, 70 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for Heck.

In that race, 58 percent of Latinos said they would vote for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, former Nevada attorney general, if the election were held today, compared to 22 percent for Heck.

About one in five respondents was still undecided.

The poll also shows continued strong support for the Democratic Party among Latino voters. More than half of respondents said the Democratic Party cares about the Latino community, while almost half said the Republican party doesn’t care, and almost a third said the GOP is hostile toward Latinos.

More than three in four respondents said they had voted for a Democratic candidate at some time, compared to three in 10 respondents who said they had ever voted for a Republican.

Almost half of Latinos said they are more enthusiastic about voting in the 2016 election than they were in the 2012 election. Of those, 41 percent said the reason was stopping Trump.