Latino Evangelicals Move Away from Republicans
Christian evangelicals have been a group that Republicans have been able to count on solidly since Ronald Reagan's presidency. But now a split appears to be growing between the party and Latino evangelicals over the issue of immigration.
Christianity Today magazine reports that before the issue of immigration became such a hot button issue, "nearly four in ten Hispanic voters and two-thirds of Hispanic evangelicals backed Bush in 2004 - and those numbers were headed up for 2006."
But starting in the 2006 midterm elections, when immigration was only beginning to appear as a major political issue, Latino support for Republicans fell 10 points. More than 80 percent of Latinos are Roman Catholics, Pentecostals, or evangelicals. And while they favor conservative positions on social issues, the magazine writes, they also favor more liberal position on immigration and economic issues.
Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, says that while Latinos account for only about 6.4 percent of the vote overall on election day, in states like Florida, New Mexico and Colorado, they may double that total. Enough to swing a close state from the Republican category to the Democratic one.
5:48 PM ET | 01-23-2008 | permalink
