As one of the most important dates in the U.S. election calendar, Super Tuesday, approaches, voters in Texas are voiced their most recent opinions in a new survey conducted by the University of Houston.
The poll shows that President Biden and Donald Trump are on track to become their party's nominees even before the state primary is held, although many of the state's Latinos are showing reservations regarding Biden.
"The presidential primaries are effectively over here in Texas," Mark Jones, University of Houston research Associate and Rice University fellow, said. "Joe Biden's going to win, Donald Trump's going to win."
The researcher also added that based on the poll's results —which showed the leading candidates in the Republican and Democratic parties would likely win somewhere between 70-80% of their party's votes— former North Carolina Governor Nikki Haley should be dropping out of the race by the time the polls in the state primary opens.
The university's survey was conducted between Jan. 11 and Jan. 24, with both English and Spanish-speaking respondents. It is the first result published out of a series of four surveys.
Beside predictions on the upcoming election's nominees, the survey also reinforced key insights on the Latino population in the state for the upcoming election.
According to the study, nearly half of Latino voters in the Democratic primary are either undecided or plan to vote for a candidate other than Biden. It also shows a decline in Biden's rating among Latinos both in Democratic voters and general election voters.
These results confirm an emerging trend among Latino voters. While historically, this segment has voted for the Democratic party, several studies, including the annual Hispanic public opinion survey by Florida International University (FIU) show that support for the party is eroding.
"Democrats have always taken Hispanics for granted, and now it's problematic because this survey tells you that they can't continue to do that," said Eduardo Gamarra, director of the Latino Public Opinion Forum at FIU.
Back in Texas, after a year of increased border activity and tensions, Latino voters have voiced a desire for more "realistic policy reform." However, the researchers note that many Latino voters are not recent immigrants and have been in the United States for generations, which can affect their thoughts on immigration and border control.
"What we're finding is that many of the policies that are being heavily promoted by the Biden administration and national Democrats related to immigration and abortion are at odds with a majority of the Latino population in Texas," Jones said.
Party affiliates in Texas will head to the polls on Super Tuesday, the day in the presidential primary cycle when the most states vote. This year, states like Alabama, Tennessee, California will participate in the tradition.
That day, the results of the Democratic contest in Iowa, which is being held by mail over several weeks, will also be announced. Iowa Republicans, on the other hand, held their caucuses mid-January, which saw Donald Trump as its clear winner with more than half of the votes.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
