Why Are Democrats Losing Latino Voters?
A conversation with political scientist Ruy Teixeira about how Hispanics’ disaffection with the cultural left spells big trouble for Democrats in 2022 and beyond.
Despite his anti-immigrant rhetoric, Trump made gains with Latino voters in 2020.
Photographer: APU GOMES/AFP via Getty Images
This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve the world’s most pressing policy challenges. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Robert A. George: You’re a political scientist and the author of several books, including The Optimistic Leftist (2017) and, with John Judis, The Emerging Democratic Majority (2002). Most recently, you’ve warned liberals that the Democratic Party’s lurch to the left will harm its ability to win future elections, in part because Democrats can no longer count on winning the Latino vote. Let’s start with definitions. Is there a “Latino vote” or are there several discrete Latino “votes” that differ by ethnicity and nationality?