Democrats See Strength in Latino Primary Vote

The growth of support for Democrats among Hispanics in Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico could provide the edge that would deliver more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, according to the NDN, a New Democrat organization.

At a Capitol Hill conference yesterday, NDN Vice President for Hispanic Programs Andres Ramirez distributed a survey that showed the growth of support from Hispanics for Democrats and detailed how they could push states that have tended to vote Republican in presidential elections into the Democratic category. His primary election analysis found that 75 percent of all Hispanic voters went Democratic.

What's more, he detailed the huge growth in Hispanics who vote, with the Democrats receiving 2.5 million Hispanic votes in primaries and caucuses compared with 858,322. And since the GOP believes that it needs 38 to 40 percent of the Hispanic vote to win in the fall, Ramirez said, "if the participation rate of Hispanic voters in the primaries is any indication of what is to come in the general election, then Republicans have much to worry about." He said that the growth of the Hispanic vote in purple states could turn them blue, giving the Democrats a base of 275 to 280 electoral votes they could rely on.

—Paul Bedard