Oct 15, 2008
Democracia U.S.A. Releases Latest Data on Hispanic Voter
New Survey also identifies top Hispanic role models and hot button issues for Latino Voters
Hempstead, NY, October 15, 2008 -– Democracia U.S.A. (D-USA), a national non-partisan Hispanic voter registration and civic engagement organization, today released its final Hispanic voter registration figures for 2008, which enumerate the organization’s efforts over the past year and shows an average 7.6% increase in voter registration in the seven states where it operates, totaling a one percent increase in the entire Hispanic electorate. D-USA operations in Arizona, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania reported the following increases in registrations:
Arizona 2%
Florida 6%
Nevada 11%
New Jersey 6%
Pennsylvania 10%
These increases demonstrate an overall trend across the country of emerging political activism and interest among Hispanics as their numbers increase state-by-state.
In Florida, the Hispanic voting population in the Orlando media market quadrupled between 1990 - 2008 from 66,000 to 234,000 and Central Florida Hispanics show an acute tendency to vote for the candidate not the party, making it the most swing prone voting bloc in the nation. The percentage of Miami Dade’s overall Hispanic electorate grew from 44% in 2000 to 50% in 2008, while the percentage of native-born Cubans within this group fell from 75% in 2000 to 58% in 2008.
In Pennsylvania, a D-USA Hispanic voter trend study noted an increase of 84,000 Hispanics registering to vote between 2006 and 2008 with a statewide Hispanic electorate total of 294,000. Democracia USA’s three regional offices in Philadelphia, Reading and Pennsauken, NJ. registered over 50,000 new voters in Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey in that same timeframe.
Finally, since 2000, Hispanic voters in Nevada have more than doubled, now making them 11% of the state’s total electorate.
To understand who is influencing these newly minted voters, D-USA teamed up with Bendixen & Associates on a survey to identify the 16 most influential leaders for Latino voters and the issues that most matter to this electorate heading into this historic election. For this survey, a total of 500 Hispanic registered voters were interviewed between August 19th and August 22nd, 2008 with a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points. The survey was conducted in both English and Spanish.
“This has been the most successful voter registration drive in the history of Democracia U.S.A. and will enable hundreds of thousands of U.S. Hispanics to realize their civic duty and participate in the political process for the first time,” said Jorge Mursuli, President of Democracia U.S.A. “Our recent survey of Latino voters was also historic by showing for the first time who the opinion leaders are and important issues which help shape the vote in the Hispanic community.”
According to the survey, the two most important items to Hispanics this election year are jobs and the economy (63%), followed by Healthcare (37%), Education (29%) and the War in Iraq (23%).
The survey also highlighted notable Latino figures from the fields of news, entertainment, politics, community, and sports. The most influential Hispanic leader according to survey participants was Jorge Ramos, national anchor for Univision’s evening news program, Noticiero Univision. Survey respondents listed five overall themes which drove them to choose Jorge Ramos: 1) his overall representation of the Latino community; 2) responsibility in reporting the news; 3) honesty and integrity; 4) credibility and sincerity; and, 5) intelligence.
The other top Hispanic leaders included Former H.U.D. Secretary Henry Cisneros, Actor Edward James Olmos, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
With the October 6th registration deadline, Democracia U.S.A.’s efforts have pivoted to Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) efforts and the organization is looking to drive 80 percent of the newly registered voters to the polls. The approximately 10 million registered U.S. Latino voters are poised to exert a disproportionate impact in the key battleground states where they could be the swing vote in this historic presidential election.
The Top 5 Hispanic Leaders:
1) Jorge Ramos
2) Bill Richardson
3) Antonio Villaraigosa
4) Edward James Olmos
5) Henry Cisneros
Democracia U.S.A.:
Democracia U.S.A. (D-USA) is a national non-partisan Hispanic civic engagement, voter empowerment, community organizing, and leadership development organization founded in 2004. D-USA is actively engaged in non-partisan civic engagement, voter registration, and GOTV (Get-out-the-Vote) efforts throughout Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Colorado, and New Jersey. In 2006, the Associated Press (AP) credited D-USA as having generated 70 percent of all new non-partisan voter registrations in the Hispanic community. As of 10/14/2008, D-USA has successfully registered 138,605 people to vote (more pending VR deadlines in NJ and CO). D-USA is also an affiliate member of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.
