No. of Recommendations: 3
But, yes, I have noted the increased Latino vote for Republicans. Still (nationally) overwhelmingly Democrat, but Reps are growing. From what I've read, that is mostly attributable to the Dem stance on LGBTQ (and marriage of same), abortion, and some other social issues. Because they are -mostly- Catholic, and don't like anything that strays from that.
It's not just that. Or at least, not everywhere.
The GOP has some advantages on economic issues. Here in Florida, for example, the Democrats did themselves no favors convincing themselves that it was okay to embrace the label "socialist" again. Whatever cachet that might have among progressives, it has a very different meaning for those folks whose experiences were shaped by fleeing the professedly socialist governments in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and of course Cuba. To Latino audiences, "socialism" isn't going to evoke Scandinavian single-payer health care systems, but corrupt dictatorships wreaking economic havoc. More generally, most voters are most concerned about the economy - and more voters trust the GOP on the economy than Democrats, and that gives the GOP openings among Latino voters also.
The other big factor are demographics - race and age. Most Latinos identify as white. As time passes, and we get into second and third and fourth generation immigrant families, these voters become just as indistinguishable from the rest of the "white" electorate as other previous migrant groups: the Germans and Irish of the 1800's, the Italians and eastern Europeans of the early 1900's. That causes a little friction with some of the Democrats' economic and racial justice positioning. And demographically, the Latino population is far younger than the overall population - today. That correlates to more Democratic support today. But as time passes, that "bulge" of younger voters (and parents that have lots of kids) continues to revert back towards the norm. The median age of the Hispanic population in the U.S. keeps growing, as the descendants of those immigrants in the late 20th century start having fewer kids. So with every passing electoral cycle, the Latino population of the U.S. is going to be older and whiter than the one before. Which is a recipe for GOP inroads.
