Nearly two-thirds of Hispanics are unimpressed with President Joe Biden's accomplishments while in office, a finding that could signal additional Republican gains among the crucial voting bloc.
Sixty-four percent of Hispanic Americans say Biden has accomplished "not that much" or "little or nothing" as president, according to a Survey Center on American Life poll released on June 29. That figure puts the traditionally Democratic voting bloc in line with the American public as a whole. Among all Americans, 64 percent say Biden has "not that much" or "little or nothing" to show for his tenure as president, the poll shows.
The revelation could spell trouble for Democrats come 2024, particularly given that Republicans have improved their standing among Hispanic voters in recent years. Biden won Hispanic voters by 21 points in 2020, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. The margin marks a staggering 17-point drop from 2016, when former secretary of state Hillary Clinton held a 38-point advantage among Hispanic voters. Polling shows the GOP could enjoy additional gains next year—Biden's lead among Hispanic voters is just 12 points if matched up against former president Donald Trump, according to the Survey Center on American Life. If Biden faces Florida governor Ron DeSantis, that lead is just 9 points, the group's survey shows.
In addition to Hispanic voters' pessimistic views on Biden's accomplishments, Hispanics have also soured on the Biden economy. A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Hispanics prefer Trump's economy to Biden's by double digits, 55 percent to 36 percent. Hispanics also overwhelmingly say transgender athletes should play for sports teams that match their biological sex, and 60 percent reject the notion that racism is "built into our society, including into its policies and institutions," the Survey Center on American Life poll shows.
"The challenge for Democrats is this: The party can no longer rely on simply mobilizing this constituency. They will have to convince these voters that Democrats share the values of a community that is socially moderate-to-conservative," American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Ruy Teixeira wrote in a Wednesday Post op-ed. "If they don't, Republicans will seize the opportunity to move more Hispanics—especially men—into their camp and further erode that community's longtime loyalty to the Democrats."
While the GOP as a whole did not build on its 2020 gains with Hispanic voters during the midterm elections two years later, some Republicans enjoyed overwhelming success with Latinos in 2022. DeSantis, for example, won 58 percent of Latinos during his 19-point rout of Democratic challenger Charlie Crist last November. DeSantis even won Miami-Dade County—a historically liberal stronghold that is 70 percent Hispanic—by double digits.
"We not only won election, we have rewritten the political map," DeSantis said after his win.