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Latino voters showed up for democrats during this midterm election, and climate helped to mobilize them

Latinos showed up during this midterm election in the majority of the battleground states, and they did it for Democrats. Climate Power understood the important role Latino voters were going to play in these midterm elections, and showed it by investing in outreach to Latino voters throughout their targeted digital and mail IE program in all 7 Senate races and all 26 House races. While many will be extracting conclusions about the Latino vote in the next few weeks, what is clear now is that Republicans had a bad night. They not only see their arrogant red wave deflated, but they are hanging neck in neck with democrats in races they felt secure. How did this happen? Latinos play a big part. Here is why:

  • At the national level, two-thirds of Latinos supported Democrats, while only one-third supported Republicans. This support was cemented on key issues, where climate action driven by the democrats was highly popular among Latinos. 

    • According to the AARC Exit Poll, 64% of Latinos approved of how Joe Biden is handling his job as President.

    • The same happens with Congress. 64% of Latinos supported Democrats, and only 33% supported Republicans.

    • An overwhelming 83% of the Latinos polled said they supported the climate provisions included in the Inflation Reduction Act.

      • Moreover, 42% said that was the primary reason they were voting, and among them, 71% were Latinos between 18-29 years old.

    • Florida is NOT representative of the Latino vote, as it is the only state where Latinos are breaking for Republicans. Shifts here were primarily driven by trends among Cuban-American and South American voters. Also, having two incumbents on the ticket – one of them Cuban American senator Marco Rubio – helped solidify Republican support.

    • It is important to notice that other segments of the Latino electorate in Florida, such as Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, were largely in line with the national pattern, with a majority voting for Democrats.

  • Latinos are more informed and connected to climate issues considering the impact extreme weather is having on their daily lives. Climate organizations are reaching out to Latinos to elevate the importance of climate action. 

    • Climate Power worked hard this year to reach out to Latino voters. Climate Power Action, Climate Power’s SuperPAC, targeted an overall 2 million people through our Climate Voter Mobilization program, a digital and mail program across 20 different states (7 Senate races and 26 House races).

      • Voters under 40 made up 58.5% of the program and 31.3% of them were under 30.

      • People of color made up 43.8% are voters of the program.

      • The universe was developed through a sophisticated model constructed by the analytics team at BlueLabs, that identified voters in the key federal electoral geographies who likely supported Biden in 2020, that were in danger of dropping-off from Democrats in 2022, and are uniquely mobilized by climate and environmental issues.

    • 176,384 Voters in the Climate Voter Mobilization program were Latino voters (8.62%).

      • Climate Power Action spoke to these voters through digital and mail about the climate crisis, benefits of climate action and the importance of electing Democrats who had taken action and would continue to do so.

      • Additionally, Climate Power Action partnered with Somos Votantes on 4 distinct English and Spanish bilingual mail pieces to reach Latino voters in Senate states in our universe.

  • In key states and races for this election cycle, Latinos favored Democrats over Republicans, and it is precisely in these states that the majority of Latinos consider climate issues as a high priority.

    • In the Colorado Senate race, despite numerous attacks by Republican candidate Joe O’Dea on Sen. Bennet’s support of the Inflation Reduction Act and its climate and clean energy provisions, Sen. Bennet handily won in the contested race last night. He ran on climate, clean energy, and conservation issues and the voters delivered.

      • In Colorado, 36% of Latinos said their primary motivation to vote was that Congress passed and President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which will lower health care and energy costs, increase clean energy production, and reduce climate pollution.

      • In Colorado, 62% said climate change is an urgent problem we must address now by investing in clean energy, cutting pollution, and cutting energy costs.

    • In the Pennsylvania senate race, John Fetterman’s defeat over Mehmet Oz, being one of the most vocal candidates against oil and gas price gouging.

      • In Pennsylvania, 70% of Latinos approve of how Joe Biden is handling his job as president.

      • In Pennsylvania, 44% said their primary motivation to vote was that Congress passed and President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which will lower health care and energy costs, increase clean energy production, and reduce climate pollution.

      • In Pennsylvania, 66% said climate change is an urgent problem we must address now by investing in clean energy, cutting pollution, and cutting energy costs.

  • More than two-thirds of this cycle’s Latino electeds ran on a climate action platform. 

    • In Arizona, climate champions Reps. Ruben Gallego and Raul Grijalva were re-elected by an overwhelming 76% and 64% of their constituents, respectively.

    • In Florida, Afro-Latino and climate-candidate Maxwell Frost will be the first Gen Z member of Congress.

    • Delia Ramirez, a Guatemalan American state legislator who ran on tackling the climate crisis head-on, has been elected as Illinois’ first Latina member of Congress.

    • Sen. Alex Padilla, who has delivered and prioritized bold climate action for the last two years after being appointed to fill Vice President Kamala Harris’ former seat, became the first Latino elected to represent the state in the Senate.

Republicans paid the price for not supporting climate action during this election cycle, and Latinos pulled through for climate action in key states. Democrats, on the other hand, delivered the most historic climate legislation in United States history, and it paid off. The second fastest-growing voting bloc in the country spoke loud and clear.