Vice President Kamala Harris is doing better with Latino voters than President Joe Biden was a few months ago, according to a poll.
The Equis poll shows Harris is leading Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, by 19 points among registered Hispanic and Latino voters in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Harris had 56 percent versus Trump’s 37 percent.
A previous poll, conducted between May 16 and June 6—before the disastrous debate performance that led President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid and endorse Harris—found Biden leading by a slimmer 5-point margin, 46 percent to Trump’s 41 percent. Harris’ lead with these voters is therefore 14 points more than what Biden had.
The latest poll surveyed 2,183 registered voters who identify as Hispanic or Latino in 12 states, of which 1,242 were registered in the seven battleground states, between July 22 and August 4. The survey has a margin of error of 2.9 percent for the full sample and 3.7 percent for the seven states.
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The survey found that Harris’ support among Latinos under age 40 is 17 percentage points higher than Biden’s was in early June, 60 percent to his 43 percent. And her support among Latina women is also up from Biden’s, 59 percent to his 50 percent.
She saw a similar bump among Latino men, getting 51 percent support versus Biden’s 41 percent.
However, support for Harris among Latino and Hispanic voters in the battleground states remains several points shy of what Biden received in 2020.
Newsweek has contacted the Harris and Trump campaigns by email for comment.
Support from Latino voters could be crucial for Harris in what is expected to be a tight election in November. She is a daughter of immigrants and the first woman of color to top a major party’s presidential ticket, and her entry into the race has energized several voting blocs.
An estimated 36 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the 2024 election, up from 32.3 million in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.
They are projected to account for about 14.7 cent of all eligible voters in the U.S. in November. These voters could be a significant force in states like Arizona and Nevada, where a higher share of eligible voters are Latino.
The polling represents a “monumental shift in preferences among Latino voters in crucial battleground states,” Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Newsweek.
“Sustained in the right states, including Arizona and Nevada, the increase in support for Harris among Latinos can be decisive in November,” he said.
Panagopoulos also said this “has implications for future elections, given partisan loyalties among large segments of the Latino electorate remain unsettled and are up for grabs by either of the two major parties.”
He continued: “Vote choices can also help to cement partisan attachments, and a vote for Harris in 2024 can portend support for Democrats down the road for these voters. The impact of the sizable shift in Latino support should not be easily dismissed. Its effects can be both immediate and enduring.”