Latino voters are swinging away from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party ahead of the November midterm elections, according to a newly released poll.
Democrats lead Republicans by a 24-point margin – 59% compared to 35% – in who Latino voters want to see controlling Congress, according to an NBC News/Telemundo poll released Oct. 4. Democrats held only a 12-point lead among Latinos – 54% compared to 42% – at this point in 2024, according to NBC News polling from the time.
It's a significant data point for Republicans across the country as the GOP seeks to retain control of Congress after the upcoming elections.
Pollsters also said Trump's approval ratings among Latinos (27% approve to 69% disapprove) may be a key driver behind falling
Latino support for Republicans.
A full 78% of Latino voters said they disapproved of how the president has handled the cost of living, compared to 20% in support, according to the new poll. Thirty-three percent ranked inflation and the cost of living as their most important issue, while 52% ranked it in their top two issues – making it the top-ranked challenge for Americans in the survey.
About two-thirds of Latino voters also said Trump's immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far, while 9% said he hasn't gone far enough and another 22% backed his approach. Immigration was the sixth most important issue to Latino voters, behind cost of living, government corruption, threats to democracy, the economy and the war with Iran.
Democrats still haven't erased all the gains Republicans have made with Latino voters in recent years. While the current 24-point lead for Democrats on who should control Congress is double their lead at this point ahead of the 2024 election, it's still far below the 43% lead they had in NBC News polling at about the same time before the 2018 midterms.
The NBC/Telemundo poll was conducted among 800 registered Latino voters from Sept. 21-28. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, GOP support among Latino voters drops before midterms, new poll shows
