Midterm Election News 2014: Hispanic Voters Increasingly Concerned with Environtmental Issues, Poll Says
Republicans hoping to capture Latino voters are out of luck, according to new polls analyzed by Latino Decisions.
The analysis of Hispanic preferences in nine polls showed that voters are increasingly concerned with environmental issues like conservation, global warming, and air and water quality -- which line up more with liberal views, according to the National Journal.
"From immigration reform to conservation, Latinos want candidates and elected officials who will best represent the issues they care about and will do so by promoting laws that will treat our community with dignity and respect," Leo Murrieta, national field director of the nonprofit Mi Familia Vota, told the National Journal.
Based on the polls, Hispanic voters want elected officials who care about the concerns they have, and intend to pass laws that address the issues.
"Latinos want government to take an active role in protecting the environment, and they support candidates with strong environmental records," Dr. Adrian Pantoja, a senior analyst for Latino Decisions, said.
In comparison, a poll by the Pew Research Center showed American voters rank the same environmental issues second-to-last on their priority list.
Those polls showed voters are more interested in strengthening the nation's economy and improving the job market.
But the polls taken by Hispanic voters and analyzed by Latino Decisions were given by environmental groups including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Voces Verdes (Green Voices).
Another report by the Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF) shows Hispanic voters in the past three years are concerned with pollution control, mitigating climate change, renewable energy sources and other environmental policies, according to The Hill.
A 2014 poll showed 78 percent of Hispanics are "more likely to support" a candidate who wants to limit pollution that causes climate change, while two other surveys said 80-90 percent of Hispanics are concerned with air and water pollution, The Hill reported.
"Latino voters consistently articulate concern about pollution, and global warming, and are overwhelmingly supportive of a broad policy agenda actively addressing these problems," according to the HAF report, The Hill reported.
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