WASHINGTON — Brian Leija, a 31-year-old small-business proprietor from Belton, Texas, was not stunned {that a} rising variety of Latino males of his technology voted for Donald Trump for president this 12 months. Leija had voted for the Republican in 2016 and 2020.
Leija’s rationale was easy: He mentioned he has benefited from Trump’s financial insurance policies, particularly tax cuts.
“I am a blue-collar worker,” Leija mentioned. “So, tax breaks for small businesses are ideal for what I do.”
For DaSean Gallishaw, a marketing consultant in Fairfax, Va., a vote for Trump was rooted in what he noticed as Democrats’ rhetoric not matching their actions. “It’s been a very long time since the Democrats ever really kept their promises to what they’re going to do for the minority communities,” he mentioned.
Gallishaw, 25, who’s Black, additionally voted for Trump twice earlier than. This 12 months, he mentioned, he thought the previous president’s “minority community outreach really showed up.”
Trump gained a bigger share of Black and Latino voters than he did in 2020, when he misplaced to Democrat Joe Biden, and most notably amongst males beneath age 45, in response to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of greater than 120,000 voters.
At the same time as Democrat Kamala Harris gained majorities of Black and Latino voters, it wasn’t sufficient to present the vp the White Home, due to the beneficial properties Trump made.
Voters total cited the financial system and jobs as crucial problem the nation confronted. That was true for Black and Hispanic voters as effectively.
About 3 in 10 Black males beneath age 45 went for Trump, roughly double the share he bought in 2020. Younger Latinos, significantly younger Latino males, additionally have been extra open to Trump than in 2020. Roughly half of younger Latino males voted for Harris, in contrast with about 6 in 10 who went for Biden.
Juan Proaño — CEO of LULAC, the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights group for Hispanic Individuals — mentioned the election outcomes make it clear that Trump’s messaging on the financial system resonated with Latinos.
“(Latino) men certainly responded to the populist message of the president and focused primarily on economic issues, inflation, wages and even support of immigration reform,” Proaño mentioned.
The Rev. Derrick Harkins, a minister who has served Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, has overseen outreach to Black American non secular communities for greater than a decade. He mentioned Trump’s hypermasculine enchantment gained over some youthful males of coloration.
“I think that Trump with this bogus machismo has been effective amongst the young men — Black, white, Hispanic,” Harkins mentioned. “And I think unfortunately, even if it’s a very small percentage, you know, when you’re talking about an election like we just had, it can be very impactful.”
Immigration, too
Whereas about 4 in 10 voters beneath 45 throughout racial and ethnic teams recognized the financial system as the highest problem dealing with the nation, older white and Latino voters have been prone to additionally cite immigration, with about one-quarter of every saying that was the highest problem.
A transparent majority of younger Black voters described the financial system as “not so good” or “poor,” in contrast with about half of older Black voters. Majorities of Latino voters, no matter age, mentioned the financial system is in dangerous form.
That perception made it harder for Harris to spotlight the precise numbers within the financial system, which present that inflation has receded dramatically, unemployment stays low and wages have risen. These voters merely didn’t really feel that progress.
That is the primary time Alexis Uscanga, a 20-year-old faculty pupil from Brownville, Texas, voted in a presidential election. The financial system and immigration are the problems that drove him to vote for Trump, he mentioned.
“Everything just got a lot more expensive than it once was for me,” Uscanga mentioned. “Gas, grocery shopping, even as a college student, everything has gone up in price, and that is a big concern for me and other issues like immigration.”
Having grown up promoting tamales and used automobiles, and washing automobiles, Uscanga is aware of how onerous it may be to make a dwelling. When Trump was president, he mentioned, it didn’t really feel that method, he mentioned.
“Under the Trump presidency, more opportunities were abound,” Uscanga mentioned.