Media Contact
Super Tuesday is one of the most important presidential primary events of 2020, with a third of delegates to be determined. Texas and California, states with high proportions of Latino voters, are among the fourteen states that will hold primaries.
Sergio Garcia-Rios
Assistant Professor
Sergio Garcia-Rios, professor of government and Latino studies at Cornell University, is an expert on Latino voter participation, preferences and polling. He is leading a Univision project to measure Latino voter preferences throughout the 2020 election cycle, including in the Super Tuesday states of Texas and California.
Garcia-Rios says:
“Latino voters have already played a critical role in determining the outcome of early state primaries, particularly in Nevada. Similarly, Latinos will play a key role during Super Tuesday with states like California and Texas, which are two of the largest Latino voting blocs in the nation.
“In this current political climate, Latinos are highly motivated to vote. Our recent polls show that 65% of Latinos in Texas are fairly certain to vote and over 75% in California. Bernie Sanders seems to have a clear lead in California with 40% of preference among Latinos in California and over 30% in Texas. In addition, our polls show that Latinos consistently see health care as the main concern facing the community and show a strong support for ‘Medicare for All.’
“Our polls also show that being labeled as ‘socialist’ might affect Sanders, especially in Texas. However, being labeled as ‘social democrat’ has much less affect in Texas, and in California actually increases his support among Latinos.”
