Latino Millennial footprint of the 2016 elections
*More elusive than the Millennial vote is the Latino millennial vote. Forty-two percent are expected to go to the polls in November and no one can say for certain why. VL
By Michelle Adams, Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education (5.5 minute read)
Latinos, and specifically Latino millennials who make up nearly half of Latino voters, have the potential of significantly impacting this fall’s election. The question remains, though, if they will vote, and if they do, for whom they will vote.
Latino millennials who like all millennials are adults between the ages of 18 and 35, make up 44 percent of all Latinos eligible to vote in the upcoming elections. Since the 2012 elections, 3.2 million Latinos have joined this millennial group and are now able to impact the 2016 presidential vote. Yet, tradition has it that Latino voter turnout has remained consistently below 50 percent during the past three decades—compared to 67 percent for Blacks and 64 percent for Whites in the 2012 elections—and it may be unlikely that the Latino millennial population will change any of this.
Defining Millennials
Before determining whether or not Latino millennials will impact the 2016 elections, it’s important to understand who they are. Jose Villa, president of Sensis Agency, a cross-cultural advertising agency that has initiated The Hispanic Millennial Project, has been looking at exactly this in the past few years. He and his cohorts have tracked this market subgroup of Latinos through the project’s innovative research initiative since 2014.
“Politically they are kind of in the middle. They share a lot of similar attitudes and beliefs to their parents and older counterparts. They still have one foot in the immigrant experience and one from the native American experience,” Villa said. “In one sense they are very optimistic. They still believe in the American Dream and that hard work will achieve success compared to White millennials who have a less positive view. This is the group that won’t probably want to ‘go back to America being great again.’ They think it is great.”
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According to Villa’s research, this group of millennials places a high importance on education and holds traditional values of building family and owning a home and car. This compares to what he sees as the stereotypical White millennial that is seen as more nihilistic, and is delaying starting families and buying homes.
Among Latino millennials, 44 percent are foreign born and make up a large part of this subgroup. Because of this, they tend to be more satisfied with this country and more religious. Villa says the foreign born tend to be more conservative and entrepreneurial. But, when it comes to politics, Latino millennials at large are “a group that is up for grabs.” They are the ones driving up the number of Latinos eligible to vote, and among them are Puerto Ricans who have moved to the mainland. READ MORE
[Photo courtesy of Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education]
