Support for Democratic policies high among Latinos, not so much for President Biden

Washington, DC, October 20, 2022 – A new Axios/Ipsos poll examines Latino Americans’ positions on issues such as gun control, abortion, student loan forgiveness, and the 2024 Presidential election. It also offers a pulse check on several recurring questions such as the most concerning issues facing the nation, likelihood to vote, and favorability of various political figures. Overall, Latinos are more likely to support Democratic policies and initiatives on issues such as gun control, the environment, and abortion. However, this support does not carry over to President Joe Biden as 69% believe he should not run for re-election in 2024.

Detailed Findings

This poll finds that Latinos are less concerned about crime or gun violence now than they were over the summer (36% vs. 44%). In turn, they are more worried about immigration (26% vs. 21%) and climate change (25% vs. 18%). On these issues, Latino Americans are more likely to say the Democratic party (38%) is good on climate and energy issues than the Republican party (10%); however, the gap between parties is smaller when it comes to who is good on immigration (27% Democratic party vs. 19% Republican party) and is statistically nonexistent for who is good on crime and public safety (22% Republican party vs. 20% Democratic party). Latino Americans are also more likely to say the Democratic party represents people like them (35% vs. 18% for the Republican party) and cares about Latino and Hispanic Americans (33% vs. 11%, respectively).

While the poll finds that Latinos tend to favor the Democratic party on most issues, this level of support does not carry over for President Biden. Under half (47%) of Latinos have a favorable view of Biden. Additionally, the majority (69%) think it’s time for a change within the Democratic Party and that President Biden should not run for re-election in 2024. While this sentiment is primarily driven by Republicans (90%) and independents (78%), more than half (57%) of Democratic Latinos also agree.

Meanwhile, only 27% of Latinos view former President Donald Trump favorably, and 73% of Latino Americans believe it’s time for a change within the Republican Party and that President Trump should not run for re-election in 2024. Democrats (92%) are most likely to agree with this statement, followed by 76% of independents. Among Latino Republicans, however, three in five (61%) say that President Trump should be the Republican nominee for president in 2024 and deserves re-election.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Latino Americans support President Biden forgiving up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt per qualified individual. This support is largely driven by Democrats (83%) and independents (61%), but 42% of Latino Republicans support it as well. A similar proportion of Latinos support the Inflation Reduction Act (62%), a bill recently signed into law by President Biden which includes corporate tax hikes, climate change measures, and changes to the Affordable Care Act.

Support for gun control measures is high among Latinos, with the majority (81%) saying they support expanded background checks on those ages 18 to 21 who want to buy a gun, 3 in 4 supporting red-flag laws that allow police to take guns from people that courts determine are dangerous, and three-quarters also support expanding the law that prevents people convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun to include dating partners, not just spouses and former spouses.

The poll also finds that over half (57%) of Latinos oppose state leaders busing or flying migrants to other states or Washington D.C., but 38% agree that states that have received migrants have an obligation to take in and provide for them in the form of housing, education, etc. Over half (59%) also say they oppose the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, meaning the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion, but only 48% agree that abortion should be legal and 47% say abortion is a complicated issue without a “black or white” answer.

While two-thirds (65%) of Latino Americans continue to believe that it is a good time to be a Latino or Hispanic person in America, 54% agree that Latino or Hispanic people do not have the same opportunities as white people in the U.S. Two thirds (67%) of Latino Americans agree that the government has an important role to play in making sure everyone has equal access to opportunity, and only 22% say America is not a racist country.

About the Study

The Axios/Ipsos U.S. Latino Survey October Pulse 2022 was conducted September 30 - October 8, 2022, by Ipsos using our KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,005 Latino/Hispanic adults age 18 or older in the United States.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs an addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The study was conducted in both English and Spanish. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, education, language proficiency, Latino/Hispanic origin, household income, Census region, metropolitan status, and 2020 vote choice. Demographic benchmarks, among Latino/Hispanic adults age 18+, came from the 2021 Current Population Survey (CPS) with language proficiency from the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS). Benchmarks for 2020 Vote choice among the US Latino/Hispanic population came from Census pot-election survey and Pew 2021 validate voter survey. The weighting variables and categories were as follows:

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45–59, and 60+)
• Education (Less than High School grad, High School grad, Some College/Tech/Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree or higher)
• Language Proficiency (English proficient, Bilingual, Spanish proficient)
• Latino/Hispanic origin (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American, Other)
• Household Income (Under $50,000, $50,000-$99,999, $100,000+)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• 2020 Vote choice (Trump, Biden, Other/Did not vote)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of Latino/Hispanic adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.49. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

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