Democrats are trying to close the voting gap between Latino men and women : NPR

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The U.S. electorate is seeing a growing gap between Latino men and women this election cycle. Latino men are more likely to be conservative and Republican, while Latinas lean more liberal and Democratic. Now Democrats are betting that they can close some of that divide by targeting Latino men through the Latinas in their lives. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales has more.

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CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: On a recent morning, a Miami, Florida, campaign office has drawn fans of both Taylor Swift and Democrats. These Swifties are multitasking, making friendship bracelets while they hear from U.S. Democratic Senate candidate, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. The event is dominated by women, a key demographic for Mucarsel-Powell’s longshot bid against well-known Republican senator, Rick Scott. The only Latina running for U.S. Senate this year has posted surprising gains on Scott, the state’s former governor, seeking a second term in Washington.

DEBBIE MUCARSEL-POWELL: Florida is in play, baby.

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GRISALES: Abortion access, which is on Florida’s ballot this November, has energized these voters.

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MUCARSEL-POWELL: Latina women seem to be resonating with the fact that it’s time for new leadership, and that we have strong women on the ballot.

GRISALES: It’s a dynamic that’s playing out in races stretching from Florida to Nebraska to Arizona and Oregon. And several of these states also have abortion access on the ballot. Democratic Latino Congressional incumbents and challengers across the country say Latina voters are playing a huge factor in their districts, and overall, Latinos will be crucial for their party.

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ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Latinos are an essential electorate, and we have to be able to get together and win.

TONY VARGAS: We’ve been talking to, like, young Latina voters in their households that are getting the rest of the parents and everybody else in their household to get out and vote.

ANDREA SALINAS: It is a critical, critical piece to winning the seat.

GRISALES: That’s New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Capitol Hill, and Nebraska congressional candidate Tony Vargas and Oregon Congresswoman Andrea Salinas from their home states. Now Latino Democrats are trying to tap into that momentum, energize Latina voters to reach Latino men. Here’s California Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, chair of the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, on the campaign trail with Salinas in Oregon.

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LINDA SANCHEZ: They have some sway and ability to talk to their own household members about the importance…

GRISALES: Her group, known as BOLD Pac, says Latinas can help reach the men in their lives, some of whom have become supporters of former President Donald Trump. This fall, BOLD Pac launched a more than $1 million program to do just that in Arizona. And they’re also doing outreach in Florida and south Texas, where Democrats have lost Latino voters to the GOP. Here’s Sanchez again at her BOLD Pac office in Washington.

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SANCHEZ: There has been a little bit of shift, but we think we can make that back up through targeted messaging.

GRISALES: The group plans to share exact figures of the total invested in the program after the election. So far, some of that money is being spent on Spanish and Spanglish ads, calling into a familiar dynamic for a lot of Latino families where women are in charge, like this one for Ruben Gallego running for Senate in Arizona, which uses Spanish to describe grandmothers, mothers and sisters – the bosses.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Ruben Gallego knows who powers Arizona – abuelas, madres, hermanas – las jefas.

GRISALES: Eduardo Gamarra, a politics professor at Florida International University in Miami, says a lot of this newfound momentum has been fueled by Vice President Harris’ candidacy for president.

EDUARDO GAMARRA: I think that Kamala has had a very interesting downballot effect.

GRISALES: Gamarra, who surveys Latino voters, says the gender gap has been huge and persistent across states. When it comes to Mucarsel-Powell in Florida, he says she faces insurmountable odds to beat Scott. But he’s betting she’ll come closer than any other Democratic candidate in the state’s more recent U.S. Senate races. He credits her focus on abortion for a lot of those gains.

GAMARRA: That issue alone is probably the one that’s pushed her closer to Scott than the others.

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GRISALES: Back at the Swiftie event in Miami, Mucarsel-Powell is not losing hope and still aiming for an upset.

MUCARSEL-POWELL: Women will be telling their husbands, their sons, their brothers, listen, we know what we’re doing. Support the women on the ticket because we’re going to make it happen.

GRISALES: Their success comes with high stakes as both parties look to make permanent inroads with Latino voters. Claudia Grisales, NPR News.

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