Latino voters in Colorado overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates for federal offices in the 2024 General Election, voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic congressional candidates by a 2-to-1 margin statewide, according to results of the bi-annual Colorado Latino Exit Poll released today.
In an election cycle where national headlines focused on Latinos’ potential shift toward President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican congressional candidates, Latinos in Colorado remained supportive of Democrats and progressive policies in their voting preferences in 2024. Several successful candidate campaigns and key statewide ballot issues in the 2024 General Election were buoyed by strong support from Colorado’s Latino voters.
“Latinos were motivated by a desire to support the issues they care deeply about and to advance the interests of their community,” said pollster Dr. Gabe Sanchez of BSP Research. “The Latino electorate is highly influential in Colorado, and we saw that reflected in Congressional District 8, where the state’s highest concentration of Latino voters faced a choice between two Latino candidates. Despite seeing a drop in Latino vote share from 2022 to 2024, the 56% majority support from Latino voters for Yadira Caraveo could undoubtedly help the first Latina member of Congress keep her seat in a very competitive district.”
Fielded from Oct. 24 - Nov. 5 (Election Day), the Colorado Latino Exit Poll surveyed 600 Latina and Latino voters across the state, including oversampling in Congressional Districts 3 and 8, to provide insights into the views of a critical demographic in the 2024 General Election. The nonpartisan poll launched in 2022 is conducted during presidential and midterm elections to help bolster research around the attitudes and policy preferences of Latina and Latino voters — the state’s second-largest and fastest-growing ethnic voting bloc. Polling was commissioned by the Colorado Latino Exit Poll, an initiative of Voces Unidas/Voces Unidas Action Fund and COLOR/COLOR Action Fund, with an overall margin of error of +/- 4%.
Key takeaways from the 2024 Colorado Latino Exit Poll include:
66% of Latinos across the state of Colorado supported Vice President Harris in 2024, helping her win Colorado’s 10 electoral votes. This is 4% higher than Latinos nationally based on national exit poll numbers.
63% of Latino voters reported supporting a Democratic candidate in their congressional race, including 62% in CD-3 and 56% in CD-8.
The most important issues to Latino voters in Colorado in 2024 were all based on the economy: inflation/rising cost of living, improving wages and income, and affordable housing.
Latino voters in Colorado continue to support expanding access to reproductive health including abortions and humane immigration policies.
Despite the poor showing nationally for Democrats in Tuesday’s election, support for the party remained strong among Latino voters in Colorado. The Latino population is not a monolithic population, reflected in polling that indicated important differences in presidential voter choices. Notably, there was a 5% gender difference among Latinos in Colorado, with 69% of Latina’s supporting Harris compared to 64% for Latino men. Furthermore, Latinos aged 18-29 (66%) and Latinos over 50 (77%) were more likely to support Harris relative to Latinos between the ages of 30-49 (60%). And those who took the survey in Spanish had a higher likelihood to vote for Harris (78%) relative to respondents who took the survey in English (63%).
Comparing voter choices to the 2020 election, polling found that 9% of Latino voters who supported Trump in 2020 moved to Harris in 2024. Conversely, 5% of Latinos shifted toward Trump after supporting Biden in 2020, suggesting at least from the self-reported data that the net shift in voting behavior was +4% for Democrats.
Fueled by a 70% approval rating of Vice President Harris — compared to just 35% with a favorable view of former President Trump — the trend carried down the ballot, with Latinos supporting Democratic candidates in congressional races across the state at 63% relative to 29% who reported voting for Republicans. At the state level, 62% of Latinos supported a Democrat in their state senate race, and 62% supported a Democrat in the state house race. Despite the outcome in CD3, the majority of Latino voters (62%) cast their vote for Democrat Adam Frisch compared to 33% for Republican Jeff Hurd, although the vote margin was closer in this district than the state’s overall average.
“Latino voters were decisive in key races in Colorado this election. We believe it’s important to quantify these results because our state does not track the race and ethnicity of voters,” said Alex Sánchez, CEO of Voces Unidas de las Montañas and Voces Unidas Action Fund, two Glenwood Springs-based nonprofits. “From Amendment 79 to congressional races, the Latino electorate — while not a monolith — supported Democrats by a 2-to-1 margin and helped secure wins for progressive ballot issues.”
As in 2022, the primary motivation for Latino voters in 2024 was to stand up for the issues they cared about and to make positive changes in their communities. Among federal policy priorities that Latino voters want the President and Congress to address, economic issues are by far the greatest concern of Colorado’s Latino community, with four of the top five priority issues relating to the economy. The rising cost of living topped the list for 29% of Latinos, followed by improving wages and income at 25%, and creating affordable and attainable housing at 22%.
Abortion and reproductive health was once again a mobilizing factor for Latino voters in Colorado, with even more Latino voters (68%) supporting Amendment 79 than voting for Vice President Harris in the election. Some 12% of Latino voters (including 16% of Latinas) identify expanding access to reproductive health/abortions as one of the main issues that the President and Congress should address. The majority of Latino voters (78%) also believe that elected officials should pass laws protecting access to abortion and contraception, and 74% believe that banning abortion could put women's health and lives at risk. Conversely, only 47% agree that elected officials should pass laws and enforce restrictions and bans on abortion, and 53% believe that banning abortion would protect the unborn.
“In this election as in elections prior, Latinas and Latinos demonstrated that we are more than just a swing vote; we are a vote that matters year-round,” said Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) and COLOR Action Fund. “Our community's power is at the core of our movement for reproductive justice and, among other issues, Latinos overwhelmingly stood united in support of protecting and expanding access to reproductive health and justice for ALL Coloradans.”
Polling showed that Latino voters in Colorado believe the Democratic Party is best equipped to address almost all of their priority issues, with the exception of border security, which polled nearly evenly between the two parties.
45% believe Democrats would be best for the economy (29% Republicans)
55% believe Democrats would be best at immigration reforms that would provide paths to citizenship (24% Republicans)
39% believe Democrats would be better at border security (35% Republicans)
58% trust Democrats to protect and expand reproductive healthcare rights (20% Republicans)
47% believe Democrats would be best to address climate change (20% Republicans)
Latinos are more likely to believe that the Democratic Party cares “a great deal about the Latino community” than they do the Republican party – 64% compared to 34% – with as much as 27% considering the Republican Party “hostile” toward the Latino community, compared to just 6% holding the same view about the Democratic Party. However, polling makes clear that both parties can improve their responsiveness to Latinos political goals and interests, as 29% of Latinos reported that Harris and Democrats, and 39% that Trump and the Republicans, “don’t care too much” about the Latino community.
Turnout from Latino voters across Colorado was strong in 2024, but trailed the record breaking numbers from 2020, according to the Secretary of State’s office early vote tallies. However, it will be some time before we have the ability to accurately calculate Latino turnout for this election.
About: The Colorado Latino Exit Poll is part of the Colorado Latino Agenda (CLA), a research initiative led by Voces Unidas de las Montañas, Voces Unidas Action Fund, Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR), and COLOR Action Fund to provide insights into the demographic makeup and views of Latino adults in Colorado on pressing policy, political, and social issues. Polling for the initiative is conducted by BSP Research, a national firm with a 20+ year track record of researching minority communities. Learn more at coloradolatinoexitpoll.org.