Why are Ted Cruz and Mario Rubio disliked by some Latino voters?
In anticipation for Tuesday night鈥檚 Republican presidential primary debate, a group of local voters and activists met for a roundtable discussion in Las Vegas Monday to discuss the Republican Party鈥檚 prospects for the Latino and immigrant community. Crucial to the conversation were two names: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both candidates from the Latino community.
But the talk wasn鈥檛 to praise the two candidates: it was part of a new campaign launched by liberal Hispanic groups to turn Latino voters against the two Republican Cuban Americans.
鈥淲hile Trump continues to grab headlines with his hateful anti-Latino, anti-immigrant language,鈥� the press statement read. 鈥淭he positions and records of the two Latino presidential candidates in the race .鈥�
2016 might be the year for Latino voters, whose voting population has increased substantially in recent years because the US Hispanic population is 鈥�.鈥� From 2000 to 2012, the Hispanic population grew by nearly 49 percent 鈥� making much of the voting population still quite young and potentially more significant in future elections.聽
The Latino voting community for his tough聽views on immigration, especially on the US-Mexico border. But targeting fellow Latinos 鈥� Cruz and Rubio 鈥� is something of a new tactic.聽
鈥淭he shift in tactics to target Rubio and Cruz, in addition to Trump, reflects a concern among some Democrats that the prospect of a history-making Hispanic candidate atop the ,鈥� writes Mary Jordan for Washington Post.
Historically, Republicans have not been popular amongst the Latino voting community. During the 2012 elections, Republican nominee Mitt Romney had only 27 percent Latino support. In the 2010 midterm elections, , and did so again in 2014. Obama鈥檚 approval rating among Latino votes was 50 percent.聽
A July-August Gallup poll showed Jeb Bush as the . Rubio was No. 2. 聽Trump and Cruz finished last.聽
shows Republican voters overall prefer Trump (38 percent), but Ted Cruz has risen to second place (at 15 percent), Rubio right behind (at 12 percent), while Ben Carson has fallen to 12 percent. Mr. Bush has fallen to 5 percent.聽
Many Republican candidates have tried hard . N.J. Gov. Chris Christie won 51 percent of Hispanic voters after investing millions of dollars on Spanish-language radio ads, direct mail, and taking a softer stance on getting undocumented immigrants children free education.
But Rubio and Cruz have taken strong stances on immigration.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not comfortable for us to do this, to call out members of our own community who don鈥檛 reflect our community values,,鈥� Crist贸bal Alex, president of the Democratic-backed Latino Victory Project, told The Washington Post.
