The real reason why Latinos voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania
Unlike in 2020, Pennsylvania was painted red in the November 5 elections. The result was considerably influenced by the Latino vote.
Donald Trump will return to the presidency of the United States on January 20, 2025. Following the general elections on November 5, which were anticipated to be one of the closest in the country’s history, the Republican candidate declared himself 47th president-elect with a wide margin of victory over his opponent, Kamala Harris.
Trump won a total of 312 electoral votes, more than the minimum needed to win the presidency. The Latino vote played a very important role in the elections, especially in Pennsylvania, one of the key states that could have added 19 electoral votes for Kamala Harris but which, finally, went to the Republican.
While the majority of Latino voters - who represent nearly 20% of the US population - leaned for the Democratic Party, in Pennsylvania, the community’s participation did not favor them as they had hoped. In 2020, the state was painted blue, however, in the elections of last November 5, the color was reversed.
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The real reason why Latinos voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania
Despite making racist comments and anti-immigrant speeches throughout his campaign, surprisingly, Donald Trump’s support among the Latino community grew. Compared to his performance in 2020, the Republican added 14 percentage points in the Latino vote nationwide, according to NBC News; but why was this?
According to analysts and experts on the subject, the driving force behind the mobilization of the Latino vote in Pennsylvania, and in general, was the economy, since the majority of Latinos belong to the working class and the Republican promised to “fix the nightmare of inflation” that reached its highest level in the last 40 years during President Biden’s Administration.
“The question becomes, if Trump can really meet those promises, bring inflation down, make things more affordable, and make these families feel more financially secure, he’s going to have an ally for probably several election cycles going forward,” explains Leslie Sanchez, a Republican political analyst and contributor to CBS News.