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 across the nation by an estimated margin of 43 points. Biden received the support of 70 percent of the state’s Latinos, Republican incumbent Donald Trump captured 27 percent, with the remaining 3 percent supporting third-party candidates.
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.
While COVID-19 dominated the national discourse, and consumed the daily lives of Latinos, the recent surge in cases and the disastrous neglect by the Trump administration propelled concern among Latino voters over the economy, with 41 percent choosing Jobs and the Economy as one of the top concerns that politicians should address. As more Americans become infected by COVID-19, Latinos are also concerned about the costs of health care, with 32 percent saying they want politicians to address this issue.
Nationally, Latinos supported the protests this summer that continue to this day in response to police abuse in the African American community. When asked if they think the police need to be held accountable for their actions when they kill or abuse African American people and that we should get rid of laws that make it hard to prosecute police officers, so they face justice like everyone else. 89 percent said they were supportive.
Another trend we observed this year was a rising concern among Latinos over racism, with 62 percent of Latino voters saying they believed racism and discrimination against Latinos had increased over the last four years. This was not only a sentiment among Democrats, either, with 34 percent of Latinos Republicans saying the same.
Last, Latinos have paid a disproportionate price among Americans for Donald Trump’s irresponsible and lazy approach to COVID-19. Among Latino voters, 90 percent said that we need a national mandate to wear masks in public so long as COVID-19 was a threat.
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.
