Bernie Sanders is the Presidential Bet of Latinos in California, Recent Poll Says
reutersconnect.com

Bernie Sanders is a clear favorite among Latinos in California.

A recent study by the Latino Community Foundation shows that young Latinos have an even stronger preference for Sanders, with over two-thirds rating the senator favorably, according to an article published in Latino Rebels. Between Sanders and the other 14 Democratic contenders, the favorability gap is significant in favor of Sanders, but all are evaluated higher than Donald Trump. Moreover, the results of the study show there is a significant gender gap of 14 points when it comes to Donald Trump as Latinas rate Trump unfavorably by 83 percent, while male Latinos rate him unfavorably by 69 percent.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth Warren, the top remaining female candidate, has failed to take advantage of the gender gap as she is rated less favorably by Latinas by 44 percent than by Latinos by 52 percent.

Sanders' lead among young Latinos can be attributed to his establishment of offices in Latino communities, hiring significant numbers of Latino staff and receiving endorsements from influential Latinos.

Moreover, it is worthy to note that Bernie Sanders knows how to capitalize on the numbers and energy of young Latinos in California who are U.S.-born citizens. In the past decades, the lack of citizenship has long hampered the growth of Latino voters. Fortunately, this problem is slowly being resolved with the emergence of younger voters who could prove to be decisive in determining the winner of the Democratic presidential primary.

In Monday, The Democratic Party presidential candidate kicked of his campaign tour at the Golden State starting at Coachella City, 49 days until California voters receive their ballots in the mail for the Democratic presidential primary.

Some of the residents of Coachella who attended the rally said they frequently feel overlooked by national political candidates. Coachella is a working-class city of 45,000 having a rich history of immigration and farmworker activism.

Prior his appearance before the voters in Coachella, Sanders discussed water issues with Coachella Valley Water District Board Member Castulo Estrada, who also endorsed his candidacy. On stage, he pledged immediate action on immigration to the state which has an estimated 2.6 million undocumented immigrants, if he is elected president. He noted a legislation he supported which was approved by California lawmakers banning private prisons in the state. Historically, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security contracted with private companies to run immigration detention facilities in California and other states.

The independent senator also stressed his commitments to improve the the nation's healthcare and tax systems, also considering California-specific appeals about issues that have affected the state like water accessibility and wildfires.

Sanders' Southern California tour brings him to Los Angeles on Thursday for the PBS NewsHour/Politico Democratic debate, while on Friday, he will head to Moreno Valley for a town hall on his Green New Deal proposal, and on Saturday he will return to Los Angeles to grace a rally alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

At 77, Sanders is the longest serving independent in U.S. congressional history, being Vermont's at-large Congressman from 1991 to 2007. At present, he is a member of the Democratic caucus. Sanders ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president and is trying his odds again in the 2020 election.

Whatever Sanders' fate may be at the 2020 elections, one thing is for sure: he has already secured the vote of the Latinos in California with his pro-immigrant rhetoric and policies.