Latino voters favor Democratic control of Congress by 24-point margin: Survey

Latino voters prefer Democrats take control of Congress after the midterms and their opinions of President Trump’s performance remain poor, according to a new poll by NBC News and Telemundo.

While the Latino vote was key to Trump’s win in 2024 as many Latino voters swung to the right, that trend may be reversing. Among the 800 registered Latino voters surveyed in September, 69 percent disapproved of Trump’s performance as president while 59 percent preferred that Democrats win the November elections. Just 35 percent said they wanted the GOP to clinch control of Congress.

The poll showed a growing negative sentiment for the GOP among Latinos — who make up about 16 percent of the total electorate — with 62 percent of respondents reporting a negative view of the party compared with 46 percent in September 2024.

But views of the Democratic Party have not drastically improved, with 41 percent reporting a positive view compared with 38 percent in 2024. Respondents had a net negative view of Democrats with negative sentiment jumping from 38 percent in 2024 to 42 percent last month.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the Latino vote by 3 percentage points in 2024, a drastic drop from former President Biden’s 25-point victory with the bloc in 2020. Trump won Latino men by 2 points in 2024 after Biden carried the group by 18 points four years earlier. A recent Cook Political Report survey found that 18 percent of Hispanic 2024 Trump voters disapproved of the job he’s doing.

The NBC News poll found that the surveyed Latino voters felt more motivated to vote compared with previous cycles. Fifty-four percent said they will vote to send a signal of opposition to Trump, and 65 percent of respondents said they feel Trump’s policies have hurt economic conditions. Sixty-seven percent said Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far.

Inflation and the cost of living were ranked as the most important issues facing the country, followed by government corruption and threats to democracy. Respondents said they think Democrats would do a better job at protecting democracy, addressing the concerns of the Hispanic community, and handling immigration. The poll found the parties tied in respondents’ view of who would better protect the border.

The poll was conducted Sept. 21-28 by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies and carries a margin of error of 3.46 points.