Latino Decisions with NCLR Action Fund released a poll of Latino voters in North Carolina today — you can see the results here. Forty percent of those surveyed indicated that they would support the incumbent, Democrat Kay Hagan in the Senate race, while 15% preferred Republican Thom Tillis. But 45% of North Carolina Latino voters are undecided, and 54% of them report no contact from a political party or get-out-the-vote effort asking them to vote, meaning that both parties have a long way to go toward fully mobilizing Latino voters in the state.
Here’s the breakdown for Hagan vs. Tillis:
In general, Democrats in the state have a stronger footing among Latino voters. Thirty-one percent of Latino voters think Democrats are doing a good job with voter outreach, compared to 16% of Latinos for Republicans. Fourteen percent of North Carolina Latinos think that Republicans are hostile, compared to 4% who think the same of Democrats.
More than 50%, however, a full majority, believe that both Democrats and Republicans take Latinos for granted and don’t care too much about reaching out to the community.
A plurality of North Carolina Latino voters think Democrats are doing a good job in general, while an even greater plurality believes that Republicans don’t care too much:
There’s bad news for Republicans in 2016, too: North Carolina is a must-win swing state, yet 56% of North Carolina Latino voters disapprove of Republicans in Congress.
This year, however, more than half of North Carolina Latino voters report no contact with a political party or get-out-the-vote campaign asking them to vote:
Immigration reform is hugely important to this community — in fact, it’s the top issue:
And a plurality of North Carolina Latino voters turn out to support their community, rather than to support any political party:
This could be because nearly two-thirds of North Carolina Latino voters know someone undocumented — for them, immigration reform is personal:
View the full slide deck from Latino Decisions and NCLR Action Fund here.