Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-26-2024

Abstract

Objective

Scholars have struggled to understand Donald Trump's surprising levels of Latino support in two consecutive presidential elections. We test three hypotheses to better understand the strength and weakness of Trump, Biden, and both political parties.

Methods

We conduct bivariate and multivariate analyses of pre- and post-election surveys to identify sources of support (beyond national origin differences) that explain how Trump improved his level of support among Latino voters to reach the low- to mid- 30 percent range.

Results

Intra-Latino differences in ideology, identity (gender and religion), and immigration attitudes help explain Trump's relatively strong showing among Latinos in 2020.

Conclusion

While the nation's electorate is becoming more demographically diverse, many predictions associated with the notion of “demography as destiny” should be tempered given the political heterogeneity among Latino voters.

Comments

Read article freely: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/XV7SDRFMDXE5FUGKCBK6?target=10.1111/ssqu.13400

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13400. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.

Publication Title

Social Science Quarterly

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13400

Available for download on Friday, June 26, 2026

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