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ICYMI: Latino Voters Poised to Affect 2016 Elections in Races Beyond Traditional “Latino” States

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Suzanne Gamboa Piece in NBC News Looks at Latino Electorate in Five Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States with Primary Elections Today

This November, the Latino share of the eligible electorate will exceed 10% in 10 “Latino” states across the nation (AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, NJ, NM, NV, NY, and TX).

However, as Suzanne Gamboa reminds readers in a new piece for NBC News, Latino voters are also a growing portion of the electorate in states beyond these 10 “Latino” states. Gamboa’s new piece looks at the Latino electorate in the five Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states with primary elections today, reminding us in the process that Latino voters will have a political impact all throughout the country this cycle.  We excerpt the story piece below, which is available online here:

“The states with primaries Tuesday – Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland – are not the first to roll off the tongue in talk about the Latino electorate.

But altogether, they hold 1.03 million eligible Latino voters, according to Pew Research Center.

…The states have longtime Latino populations, but also are seeing populations that have gone beyond immigrant communities and now have nascent political movements within them.

Rodriguez, the Rhode Island state organizer for the non-partisan Dominicanos USA, said when the group began its work in the state in 2014, attitudes toward voting among Dominican Americans – a growing group in the state – were far more cavalier.

The group has worked to inform people about the voting process, the effect of their political involvement on their lives and their children’s lives and now, ‘I think it is starting to shift,’ he said.

…Here’s some facts from about the Latino electorate in each state from Pew Research Center.

  • Connecticut – The state’s 280,000 Latino eligible voters are 11 percent of the total eligible voters. Breakdown: 68.3 percent Puerto Rican; 5.3 percent Mexican; 4.1 percent Dominican; 1.9 percent Cuban; 0.5 percent Salvadoran; 19.9 percent other.
  • Delaware – The state’s 40,000 Latino eligible voters are 6 percent of the total eligible voters Breakdown 47.5 percent Puerto Rican; 29.7 percent Mexican; 4.9 percent Cuban; 4.1 percent Dominican; 13.3 percent other.
  • Maryland – The state’s 199,000 Latino eligible voters are 5 percent of the total eligible voters. Breakdown: 20.7 percent Salvadoran, 18.9 percent Mexican; 16.6 percent Puerto Rican, 5 percent Dominican; 4.1 percent Cuban and 34.6 percent other.
  • Pennsylvania – The state’s 440,000 Latino eligible voters are 5 percent of the total eligible voters. Breakdown: 63.9 percent Puerto Rican; 10.8 percent Mexican; 7.5 percent Dominican; 3.3 percent Cuban; 0.6 percent Salvadoran; 13.9 percent other.
  • Rhode Island – The state’s 68,000 eligible Latino voters are 9 percent of the total eligible voters. Breakdown: 35.8 percent Puerto Rican; 29.7 Dominican; 5.6 percent Mexican; 2.3 percent Cuban; 1.5 percent Salvadoran; 25.2 percent other.”