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Hispanic voters have emerged over the last decade as an important constituency and both John McCain and Barack Obama are devoting significant resources to wooing them.
But immigration reform doesn’t always top the list of concerns for those voters.
Family and pocketbook issues often rank higher among the concerns of Hispanic voters, said Susan Minushkin, the deputy director of the Pew Hispanic Center.
“It is not the top issue,” she said. “It is never the top issue for Hispanic voters.”
In a survey from the non-partisan center released last week, 75 percent of registered Hispanic voters ranked immigration as an important issue. But it ranked below education, cost of living, jobs, health care, crime and the war in Iraq.
And although McCain has a long history when it comes to immigration reform, 59 percent of Hispanic voters polled said Obama would do a better job dealing with immigration than McCain. Nineteen percent believe McCain would do a better job.
Clarissa Martinez, director of immigration and national campaigns for the non-partisan civil rights group the National Council of La Raza, said Latino voters don’t differ much from the rest of the electorate.
However, the way candidates approach immigration reform can influence Latino voters, Martinez said.
“It does become a proxy for how a candidate feels about or regards this community,” she said. “ … It’s felt at a very personal level.”
-- Amy Dominello
But immigration reform doesn’t always top the list of concerns for those voters.
Family and pocketbook issues often rank higher among the concerns of Hispanic voters, said Susan Minushkin, the deputy director of the Pew Hispanic Center.
“It is not the top issue,” she said. “It is never the top issue for Hispanic voters.”
In a survey from the non-partisan center released last week, 75 percent of registered Hispanic voters ranked immigration as an important issue. But it ranked below education, cost of living, jobs, health care, crime and the war in Iraq.
And although McCain has a long history when it comes to immigration reform, 59 percent of Hispanic voters polled said Obama would do a better job dealing with immigration than McCain. Nineteen percent believe McCain would do a better job.
Clarissa Martinez, director of immigration and national campaigns for the non-partisan civil rights group the National Council of La Raza, said Latino voters don’t differ much from the rest of the electorate.
However, the way candidates approach immigration reform can influence Latino voters, Martinez said.
“It does become a proxy for how a candidate feels about or regards this community,” she said. “ … It’s felt at a very personal level.”
-- Amy Dominello