The 2020 American Election Eve Poll includes over 15,000 voters nationally with oversamples of Latino/Latinx, African American, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander American, and rural voters, along with other voters; as well as state-specific samples for Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. According to results from The American Election Eve 2020 Survey, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden won Latino voters in Georgia by an estimated margin of 41 points. Biden received the support of 69 percent of the state’s Latinos, Republican incumbent Donald Trump captured 28 percent, with the remaining 3 percent supporting third-party candidates.
As indicated in the table below, Biden’s Latino support in Georgia varied by gender, age and other demographic characteristics.
The pandemic mattered most
According to the Election Eve poll, the COVID pandemic had a significant impact on Latino voters. Nationally, 67 percent of Latinos surveyed agreed with the statement that Trump “ignored the early warning signs” on the virus and “mismanaged” the government’s response. Their attitudes are similar to those of Asian Americans (67 percent), but notably lower than among African Americans (84 percent). Only white voters surveyed were narrowly more likely to agree with the statement that “there was nothing Trump could have done differently” to limit the virus’ spread (54 percent) than whites who agreed that Trump “ignored” and “mismanaged” the virus (46 percent).
In addition, 57 percent of Latinos nationwide reported that either they, a member of their household, a member of their family, or somebody else they know had contracted the virus at some point. This figure is similar to response rates for African Americans (54 percent) and Native Americans (59 percent), but slightly lower for Asian Americans (45 percent) and whites (49 percent). A combined 85 percent of Latinos said they either “strongly agreed” (67 percent) or “somewhat agreed” (31 percent) that the next Congress should pass a $2 trillion, comprehensive COVID stimulus bill.
Georgia’s Latinos expressed similar opinions about the pandemic and the government’s response. Among Latinos in Georgia surveyed in the poll, 55 percent rated it the most important issue to them this election; 64 percent agreed with the statement that Trump “ignored the early warning signs” on the virus and “mismanaged” the government’s response; 53 percent said either they, a member of their household, a member of their family, or somebody else they know had contracted the virus at some point; and a combined 93 percent of Latinos said it was either “very important” (69 percent) or “somewhat important” (24 percent) that the next Congress should pass a comprehensive COVID stimulus bill with over 2 trillion dollars in additional funding for unemployment benefits, stimulus payments, small business loans, and support for state and local government.
While Georgia politicians have often targeted Latino immigrants in their messaging to conservative whites, 76 percent of Latino voters agreed with the statement that our immigration policy should focus on creating a humane system that is fair to all, including stopping the separation of children form their parents, establishing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who work and live in Georgia, and creating new laws to ensure there is a fair process for people to legally enter the country.
“Between 2010 and 2019, Georgia’s Latino population grew from 854,000 to 1.05 million, a 22.8 percent increase,” said Latino Decisions co-founder Gary Segura. “Nobody who has been paying close attention to Georgia’s changing demography is surprised that a state no Democrat has carried since Bill Clinton in 1992 emerged in 2020 as a new presidential battleground.”
The 12-state and National American Election Eve Poll 2020 was jointly sponsored and funded by a consortium of more than a dozen non-partisan, civic engagement groups, and conducted with confirmed voters, between October 24 and November 2. A total of 15,200 individuals were surveyed, including 5,300 Latino, 4,100 African American, 1,700 Asian American, 1,300 Native American, and 2,800 white voters. For full details and polling results in all states and nationwide, consult our website.
