In the wake of Donald Trump's rise to political prominence, Republicans may have abandoned their intention to try to attract more Latino voters, even though they make up the fastest-growing slice of the U.S. electorate.

After former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's loss in the 2012 presidential election, GOP leaders had vowed to reconsider the party's stance on immigration and other issues crucial to Latinos, The New York Times reported. The move came in part to Romney garnering a mere 27 percent of the Latino vote -- far less than the 40 percent achieved by then-President George W. Bush during his 2004 re-election campaign.

Trump's Rise Puts Hold on Courting Latinos

The approach has not flourished as Trump has emerged as the Republican front-runner in the 2016 race. And the GOP may come to regret its support for the real-estate tycoon-turned-presidential hopeful, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham predicted.

"Donald Trump today has an 81 percent disapproval rating with Hispanics,'' noted Graham, who dropped out of the White House race last December. "The Democrats will destroy this guy."

Ironically, many Latinos who consider themselves Republicans actually support Trump's candidacy, the Miami New Times reported. A Florida Atlantic University poll conducted in early January revealed, for example, the former "Apprentice" star is the top choice of 54 percent of likely Latino GOP voters in the Sunshine State.

Hispanic Candidates Struggle Among Hispanic Republicans

Meanwhile, the two Latino presidential hopefuls in the crowded GOP field -- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz -- have been forced to toughen their respective views on immigration in order to establish their conservative credentials in the race for the party's nomination.

In Rubio's home state, his support has thus plummeted some 19 percentage points among Hispanics since November, and he received only 15 percent support in January. Cruz, for his part, was favored by some 10 percent of the state's heavily Cuban Latino population.

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