Presidential Polls 2016: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton Show Huge Leads in Latino-Heavy Nevada
A new poll shows 2016 presidential primary ront-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with strong double-digit leads over their respective fields for the Republican and Democratic primary races in Nevada -- a state where Latinos make up a large voting bloc.
According to a Gravis Marketing poll released Tuesday, Trump leads the Republican field in the Silver State with 33 percent of support from likely GOP primary voters. That gives him a 13-point lead over his closest rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who stands at 20 percent.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in third place with 11 percent, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 6 percent. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie weighed in with 5 percent each. No other candidate running in the Republican nomination election obtained more than a point in Nevada, which will be the GOP's fourth primary contest.
Meanwhile, a recent CNN/ORC poll also showed the billionaire businessman with a commanding 21-point lead over Cruz in a national survey. In the poll, Trump had 39 percent of support, while Cruz trailed him with 18 percent.
The Gravis Marketing poll, which was conducted from Dec. 23 to 27, also shows former Secretary of State Clinton with a large 23-point lead over her closest opponent in the Democratic nomination race. She received 50 percent of support among likely Democratic caucus goers, compared to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who received 27 percent. Meanwhile, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley came in at one percent, and 22 percent of respondents said they are still undecided.
According to USA Today Politics, Hispanics make up 27.5 percent of the population in Nevada, while about 16 percent of all of eligible voters in the state are Hispanic. In addition, nearly 40 percent of Latinos in the Silver State are registered to vote.
Despite Trump's lead in the heavily Latino populated Nevada, national polls show that Latinos have an overwhelmingly negative view of the real estate mogul. A survey conducted by MSNBC, Telemundo and Marist revealed 55 percent of Latinos have a "very" negative view of Trump, while 12 percent hold a "somewhat" negative opinion of the candidate. On the other hand, 30 percent of respondents said they have not heard of Rubio, who has Cuban heritage.
Earlier this year, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill said Trump's hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric is motivating Latinos and younger people to vote.
"Donald Trump is spurring youth voter mobilization like I have never seen before," Gutierrez said during a speech on the House floor. "Nationally, we know that 93 percent of Latinos under the age 18 of are citizens and that every 30 seconds a Latino citizen turns 18. That's about one million a year for the next decade or so. If they are half as motivated as the young people I'm talking to in Chicago, Donald Trump could have a tremendous impact on the youth vote in the coming election."