No Republican nominee has done as well with Hispanic voters in 16 years as did President Trump in his contest with Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
According to exit polls from the Associated Press, Trump received 35% of the Hispanic vote. That amounted to 7 percentage points better than his abysmal showing with Hispanics four years ago and just 5 points behind the 40% George W. Bush garnered in 2004. Trump’s improvement with Hispanic voters, a historically solid showing, helped him run competitively with Biden in key battleground states.
Indeed, in Florida and Texas, swing states Trump could not afford to lose, his strong showing with Hispanic voters was integral to his victories in each. In Florida, Trump received 47% of the Hispanic vote, according to exit polling conducted by Edison Research and reported by the New York Times. In Texas, where Republicans typically garner 35% of the Hispanic vote, Trump received 40%.
Trump wooed Hispanics throughout the campaign. He ran targeted, Spanish-language television and radio advertising, and his “Latinos for Trump” coalition hosted special events in states with a significant population of Hispanic people. Nationally, his 35% support from Hispanics outpaced 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney by 8 points and 2008 GOP nominee John McCain by 4 points. Trump did better among Hispanic men (38%) and slightly lower among Hispanic women (32%).
Biden received the backing of 63% of Hispanic voters, a drop of 3 points compared to the Democratic nominee in 2016, Hillary Clinton.
Meanwhile, it appears as though Trump did not make gains among black voters despite concerted efforts. In the Associated Press exit polls, Trump received just 8% of the black vote, equal to his performance with this group four years ago. Broken down by gender, 12% of black men backed Trump, compared to just 6% of black women.
Biden was backed by 90% of black voters, slightly higher than what Clinton achieved in 2016.
