Free Republic

Are Hispanic voters trending to Donald Trump? It seems unlikely, but there's at least a little polling evidence that that's been happening over the past week. Now LAT/USC is showing Hispanics voting 47 percent for Clinton and 44 percent for Trump. It's possible that this represents the changed responses of just a few individuals, in a poll which asks the same panel of respondents for their preferences at regular intervals. But the total number of Hispanic respondents is listed at 181 — small but not totally suspect. Does this represent a surge of Hispanics toward Trump or away from Clinton?...

Hispanic voters were largely credited with President Obama’s victory in 2012, but they weren’t as crucial as many believed. Mr. Obama didn’t even need to win the Hispanic vote to put him over the top, thanks to high black turnout and support among white voters in the North. The turnout among Hispanic voters didn’t surge, even though exit polls implied that it had. This year, Hispanic voters, perhaps motivated by Donald J. Trump’s policy proposals (including deportation) and harsh language aimed at undocumented Hispanic immigrants, really might decide this election. Early voting data unequivocally indicates that Hillary Clinton will benefit...

Reading the Early Vote Can Be Screwy, But in Florida the Trump Camp Has Reason to Be Optimistic Compared to 2012, early voting indicates Donald Trump heads into Election Day in far better shape than Mitt Romney, while Hillary Clinton lags Barack Obama. We have cautioned our readers not to read too much into early and absentee ballot returns–the reasons why were laid out by Sean Trende at RCP–but since the media made such a splash about the “surge” in Hispanic voting in Florida on Saturday we feel the need to shine some light during what has become the Dark...

With 10 years remaining in its $12 billion road-building program, the Illinois tollway intends to start training workers to help finish the job. The aim is to increase the number of minorities working on tollway projects through a center teaching construction-related skills, officials said at a meeting Wednesday. The program is in the early stages, with diversity department planners still figuring out logistics, including funding. About $400,000 is allocated for 2017, although several tollway board directors advised staff members to budget for more. A 2015 tollway study concluded that blacks, Hispanics and women are underrepresented compared to whites when it...

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine on Thursday delivered what may be the first presidential campaign speech entirely in Spanish as part of Hillary Clinton’s push into traditionally Republican Arizona. The senator from Virginia spoke entirely in Spanish for about half an hour to a small crowd in a largely Hispanic area of Phoenix. He touched on immigration reform, the economy and the importance of being inclusive. He also criticized Republican Donald Trump’s comments about Latinos and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration raids. “With so much at stake for the Hispanic community, it’s important that our campaign use the...

A new poll shows that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has improved his standings in Florida, now leading his opponent Hillary Clinton by four points. Trump is polling with 46 percent of the vote, while Clinton is trailing with 42 percent, according to the latest New York Times Upshot/Siena poll of the state. Trump has improved his standings among Cuban-Americans by 19 points in just one month. A September poll showed Trump only earning 33 percent of Florida Cubans, with Clinton leading with 41 percent. Today’s poll shows a dramatic shift. Trump now leads Clinton among Cubans by ten points...

Hillary Clinton's campaign just got some very good news from Florida. The Clinton campaign is reporting an "unprecedented" 133,000 Latinos have cast early ballots ahead of the November 8 election - a 99 percent increase in Latino voters compared to 2012, BuzzFeed News reported. The 133,000 votes consist of vote-by-mail and absentee ballots. Early voting in Florida began Monday. The Clinton campaign calls it a promising sign for the Democratic nominee as Latinos comprise 17% of the electorate in the swing state. A survey taken the week of Oct. 17 to Oct. 24 by the National Association of Latino Elected...

While polls show that more Hispanics prefer Hillary over Trump to occupy the White House those Hispanics need to take a close look at what Hillary’s party has done for -- and more importantly, to -- Hispanics in the U.S. The Hispanic population has grown so rapidly that it is difficult to believe that the 1970 Census questionnaire did not include a racial or ethnic category called “Hispanic.” But this was not because Hispanics did not live in the U.S. in significant numbers. The musical West Side Story from the 1950s featured several Puerto Rican main characters, and cities like...

I just watched Trump's latest rally in Newton, PA. He mentioned quite a few times tonight the black and hispanic communities and how bad things are for them under Democrat rule. I think it's great he is reaching out to them, but I believe he needs to do more than just mention them in his rallies. He needs to go into the inner cities. I know he went to Detroit back in early September, but he needs to do that again, not only in Detroit, but in Philly, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Cleveland and any other city in a battleground state....

Wow, Hillary just tweeted a video in Spanish that contains a pretty naked appeal to violence and revolution. Hispanics say "They need someone to grab that sword and fight for us!" I guess because Hillary doesn't support guns, but swords is a pretty violent reference!

For the fifth time since September, police have discovered the remains of a teenager in Brentwood, a community plagued by gang violence. The body of Jose Pena-Hernandez, 18, of Brentwood, was found Monday in a wooded area at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death, but police said the case was being investigated as a homicide. Hernandez, who police say was a known gang member, was reported missing in June. Suffolk County police believe he was beaten to death.

Florida is a swing state that could determine the outcome of the US election, where Hispanic voters play a key role. Florida's Hispanic and Latino voters are divided, with many older Cuban Americans backing the Republicans. In the Little Havana neighbourhood of Miami, Trump campaigners have set their sights on an unlikely group of Americans: Hispanic voters.... A "Trump-Pence" sign appeared propped up against a wall this evening,... But even without the sign, displays of support for the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, continued into the evening. Trump's rise has relied strongly on anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic rhetoric targeted at mainly...

U.S. citizens’ duty to vote is similar to Christians’ duty to love their neighbors, Hispanic evangelicals heard from the pulpit Sunday at a bilingual Miami-area church. The preacher: Tim Kaine. Hillary Clinton’s running mate visited Pneuma Church in West Kendall to get in a Sunday service and ask Latinos to vote — in Spanish.

HOUSTON -- Houston's streets got a little hotter today as the Houston Latino Trump Coalition came out to support their candidate. "He's the only choice we have." Julio Torres responded as he waved his Latinos For Trump sign at passing cars. "He's going to give us progress, he's going to give us opportunities, he's going to end all the race-baiting, and he's going to end all of the poverty in our neighborhoods. He's going to do a lot better for us than Hilary Clinton will." Needless to say, this did not sit well with some members of the Latino community...

Donald Trump’s first order of business after Monday night’s big debate? Meeting with Miami Hispanics. For real this time. His campaign has asked about 150 South Florida Latinos to a town hall-style meeting 2 p.m. Tuesday at Miami Dade College’s Koubek Center, several people invited told the Miami Herald. It will be Trump’s first public event following his first debate against Hillary Clinton. He first plans to hit a $25,000-a-head fundraiser in Miami. Trump’s campaign twice scheduled small-scale meetings with Miami Hispanics over the summer, but both times the events had to be scrapped. A July 8 luncheon at Versailles...

Donald Trump is performing about as well with Hispanic voters as GOP nominee Mitt Romney did in 2012, according to opinion polls — something that unsettles Democrats and surprises even some Republicans. Skeptics had suggested that Trump would suffer a blowout among Hispanics, given that his rhetoric, on illegal immigration in particular, has been controversial. Trump’s promise to build a wall on the southern U.S. border and force Mexico to pay for it is perhaps the best known of his campaign pledges. And at his campaign launch in June 2015, he said people coming into the country illegally were “rapists.”...

African American Trump Deplorables calling Hillary a murderer! Local News Organizations are noticing a significant shift in Hispanic and African American Voter Preference.

What Houston's Hispanic Donald Trump supporters lack in experience, they make up for in fervor. Even in Sunday's sweltering 93-degree heat, about a dozen members of the Houston Trump Latino Coalition jumped up and down, blew kisses and ran up to cars to try to win the support of passers-by at the corner of Pansy and Fairmont in Pasadena. They weren't always successful. "Whenever they flip you the finger, just blow them a kiss," suggested one supporter. The Pasadena gathering was the first of two roadside demonstrations Sunday for the group that just formed in June. Co-founder Renee Garza clutched...

Every square foot of Hazleton evokes America’s grand immigrant story. From the Irish cemetery on Donegal Hill, to the now closed Slovak Holy Trinity Church, this once booming Pennsylvanian coal town was a magnet to the huddled masses who crossed the Atlantic in search of a better life. In 1883, Hazleton became the third city in the world (New York was the first) to install an electric grid. It was literally a shining city on a hill. Today, as Donald Trump’s campaign steps up its focus on Pennsylvania — if he wins its 20 electoral college votes he could take...

The conventional wisdom holds that sweeping demographic shifts propelled Barack Obama to the presidency. So here’s a simple question: Why haven’t these demographics swept Hillary Clinton to a big polling lead and a smooth glide to victory? Donald J. Trump, after all, has alienated just about every growing demographic group and every category that helped push Mr. Obama to victory. The biggest reason is that demographic change was an overrated contribution to Mr. Obama’s victory, and it will help Mrs. Clinton only at the margins this year. Analysts have conflated all of the effect of higher turnout and percentage of...