Poll: Obama Leads Romney 73-24 Among Latino Voters
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have been courting the Latino vote across the country heavily throughout the campaign. But, if a new poll's lead holds up for President Obama, he could win enough swing states to take the Electoral College.
According to the last impreMedia/Latino Decisions poll (.pdf file) released Monday, President Obama leads Mitt Romney among Latino voters by a 73-24 percent margin with 3 percent undecided. If that number holds through Election Day, it would break the record for highest Latino support, set by Bill Clinton at 72 percent in 1996.
The Latino Decisions poll found that 16 percent of Latino voters had already voted, with another 73 percent saying they were certain to vote.
"With 11 weeks of tracking, we are headed towards a record level of Latino votes for a Democratic presidential candidate," said Matt Barreto, principal investigator for Latino Decisions. "If Latinos turnout at the high rates we are expecting, they could deliver Nevada, Colorado, Florida and Virginia to Obama."
Sixty-eight percent of Latinos said they had already voted, or would vote for Democrats in the House of Representatives election, with another four percent saying they are leaning towards Democrats.
Among likely voters, 55 percent said they were more enthusiastic about voting in 2012 than in 2008, with 22 percent saying they were more enthusiastic four years ago.
On the economy, 71 percent of Latinos support Obama, compared to 20 percent who trusted Romney and the GOP. The numbers on the economy were virtually unchanged from 5 weeks ago.
