California Latino support weakens for Kamala Harris with Election Day near, poll shows
SACRAMENTO — New polling shows a dramatic shift in the California Latino vote with a weakening of support for Vice President Kamala Harris just weeks out from Election Day.
For generations, the Democratic Party has been counting on the Latino vote to help win elections. This year, that vote is more up for grabs than ever.
Sacramento's Jay Martinez is a one-time Democrat who is now a converted Republican voter. He voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. This year, he said he will vote for former President Donald Trump over Kamala Harris.
"I was a little bit nervous in the beginning when he got elected, as many people were, but I thought, 'Hey, let's give this guy a chance and see what he could do,' " Martinez said.
Martinez's grandfather first migrated to California from Mexico as a farmworker through the federal Bracero program. Martinez is now a small business owner with his own children and is one of the many Latino voters now aligned with the Republican Party.
"I've always prided myself on being an independent thinker," Martinez said.
According to a new poll from UC Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times, Californian Latino support for Kamala Harris is at 54% to Trump's 35%.
That is a big drop in Latino Democratic support from just four years ago when Joe Biden won 75% of California's Latino vote.
Mike Madrid wrote the book "The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy." He said Latino voters are more motivated by pocketbook issues than through the lens of racial and immigration issues.
Madrid said there has been "a really significant and rapid Democratic shift" over the last four years.
"What we're watching is the explosion of a whole new generation of Latino voters coming online that are overwhelmingly U.S. born," he added.
Madrid said he believes the Latino vote may decide this election.
Harris tried to bolster her Latino support with a town hall on Univision Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Trump's Univision town hall in Florida was postponed because of Hurricane Milton.