The ‘Latino Vote’ Is More Complicated Than You Think

FEATURING ANTONIO GONZALEZ – Now that the dust has settled from the shock of election night, many people are attempting to understand what happened. Exit polls showed that a whopping 58% of all white voters in the US picked the renegade GOP nominee.

Latino voters, who comprised 11% of the electorate were expected to hold the line for Democrat Hillary Clinton. Imagery of the “sleeping giant” waking up was popular.

Indeed, given Trump’s derogatory comments against immigrants, it was expected that Clinton would easily win among Latinos. She did indeed garner 65% of Latino votes. But the 29% of Latinos that voted for Trump was a surprise. If nearly one third of Latinos who voted picked Trump, what does it mean for our understanding of the voting tendencies of this group?

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Antonio Gonzalez, President of the William C. Velásquez Institute, and an expert on US Latino voter mobilization and Latino voting characteristics.