U.S. Latino voters felt less enthusiastic about President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party for the immigration executive action delay, and polling data suggests the wait resulted in Latino voters staying home for the midterm election.

While 36 U.S. Senate seats were up for election during the 2014 midterms, 10 races were categorized as "critical" but only one had a double-digit Latino voting population. According to Latino Decisions, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire and North Carolina were states with competitive elections, yet all but Colorado have a Latino voting age population at 6.1 percent or lower. Colorado's Latino voting age population is 15.4 percent, while the nearest figure comes from Kansas with 6.1 percent. The lowest rate came from 1.5 percent in Kentucky.

The lack of the Latino voting age population in the competitive states proved to be an obstacle to determine the dynamics of the Latino vote and how the immigration debate would correlate to turnout. Latino Decisions polling data in four states with competitive races saw Democrats, including the Kansas Independent candidate, maintained strong support from Latinos, but it was slightly lower than 2012 levels.

Latino Decisions' senior analyst David Damore wrote the immigration executive action delay would "dampen" the Latino electoral enthusiasm. Another poll comprising of 200 registered Latinos who did not vote in 2014 found 60 percent were less enthusiastic toward Obama and the Democratic Party because of the executive action delay. The reaction from the 60 percent, according to Latino Decisions, suggested "that inaction on immigration may have resulted in some Latino voters staying home on Election Day."

"The hesitancy of Democrats to embrace immigration also extended to the campaign dialogue. The race in Colorado between Democratic incumbent Mark Udall and Republican Representative Cory Gardner nicely illustrates this point. Engagement and mobilization of Latino voters was key to top of the ticket Democratic victories in the state during the 2008, 2010, and 2012 cycles and many expected this trend to carry Udall to victory in 2014," noted Damore, adding both candidates had different views on immigrants yet Latino voters had "little knowledge" about their stances.

While Udall voted in favor of the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform Senate bill (S.744) and Gardner received a zero on the National Immigration Score Card, the majority of Colorado Latino voters participating in the Latino Decisions poll did not know which candidate supported comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. Udall, however, maintained strong support from Latinos with 46 percent to 21 percent for Gardner. More Latinos knew Gardner opposed comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship than Udall, with 38 percent to 6 percent.

"Not only did the Udall campaign fail to draw a sharp contrast on the immigration issue in the minds of many Latino voters, thousands of potential Latino votes were left on the table given the under-representation of Latino voters in the Colorado electorate," wrote Damore.

According to Latino Decisions, the Democratic Party's handling of immigration was "self-defeating" and saw incumbent senators who requested executive action delay lose their respective race. One example is Kay Hagan of North Carolina, who was the Democratic incumbent senator and request Obama delay his immigration executive action. She would lose her election with the lowest level of Latino support of all Democratic U.S. Senate candidates.

Damore acknowledged immigration is not only an issue that would affect how Latinos vote but also if the Latino electorate votes at all.

"Understanding this point is particularly critical for Democrats given that the party's electoral successes are increasingly dependent upon outsized support among minority voters," said Damore.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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