CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In North Carolina turnout among Latinx voters was 23% in 2020, more than three times what it was in 2016, according to Democracy NC. Those numbers reflecting a nationwide trend, and it had a big impact. But not in the ways many expected.
“I think, you know, to some degree, there were some false assumptions going in here," said Steven Greene, a political science professor at North Carolina State University.
Greene said this election has squashed assumptions that the Latino vote would skew blue nationwide.
“There [were] a lot of people I think just assume that based on Donald Trump's position on immigration, that this will drive away Latino voters," Greene said. "But Latino voters vote on a whole bunch of other issues besides immigration, just like everybody else.”
“There's nothing inevitable about Democrats winning this group of voters by huge margins," Greene added. "And we saw that this time”
Exit polls showed Democrats didn’t secure the Latino votes they were hoping for in states like Florida, Texas, Nevada, and parts of North Carolina.
“We had some suggestions from the polls beforehand that Donald Trump is going to do better with Latino voters in 2020 than in 2016, but it has been a bit surprising that he has done so much better than I think a lot of people were suspecting," Greene said.
The results are bringing into sharper focus the significant role those votes played in the election.
“They just kind of jumped the line where they are now voters you can count on and reliable voters," said Tony Diaz, a community activist with El Librotraficante.
Diaz said this election has proven Latino voters can't be grouped under an umbrella, and that it is a demographic that is both critical and worth investing in.
“When they talk about 'the Latino vote,' it's almost like saying Donald Trump won the white vote, no would say that," Diaz said. "But I love that we're getting this attention. And I think we have to kind of build on that ... you know that Latinos are being involved so they do have to be catered to.”