Lately, the media has been obsessed with highlighting shifts in voter favorability among Latino men, but with Election Day now just days away, Harris still heads into early voting days with 60% support among Latino voters. The driver of this support: Latina women. 

Latinas, a critical demographic that has shown strong and consistent support for Kamala Harris, have been largely ignored by the media. This neglect is shocking, given that Latinas consistently vote at higher rates than their male counterparts. In fact, the turnout difference between the groups has increased over the last 20 years, from 2.2% in 2000 to 5.4% in 2020.¹ 

The Entravision/AltaMed Latino Tracking Poll conducted by BSP Research finds Harris leading Trump 66-29 in a head-to-head match up during week 5, a +37 net advantage for Harris. Cumulatively, over the course of the Tracking Poll’s first five weeks, Harris has held 64% among women, a number that rises to 67% with women 50+. Her support among women is also +5 points higher than the national Latino average, where Harris leads Trump 59-35. General favorability of the candidate is also high, with 65% of Latinas saying they find Kamala Harris favorable. Favorability increases to 70%  among women 50+ years old. 

Reproductive rights and abortion access are salient issues that help explain why Latinas are so supportive of Harris. In week 4 of the Entravision/AltaMed Latino Tracking Poll, abortion/women’s reproductive rights was the second most important issue for Latina voters across the country. Over the five weeks of the tracking poll, when asked about a policy proposal that would enact a national law to guarantee a right to abortion for women who might need it, 74% of Latina support it. Unsurprisingly, young Latinas age 18-29 are most supportive of the policy, at 81%

In fact, Latina women are poised to support Democratic candidates and policies up and down the ballot. 80% of Latinas support creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have worked and lived in the United States, 81% support increasing taxes on billionaires and corporations to 25%, and 90% support allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs. The majority also believe the cost of living is going up as a result of corporations raising prices. Nearly 60% of Latinas in key states say they plan on voting for the Democratic candidate for congress in their districts. 

The importance of the Latino electorate in this year’s election cannot be overstated, but the noise of small shifts and hesitancies towards Harris among Latino men has overshadowed the strong support she enjoys among Latinas. Gender gaps exist also persist between men and women from other racial groups, of course. 

But a Harris win–especially if she carries states like Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia–will be in large part thanks to that support. As we enter the home stretch of this campaign season, we must stop overlooking the pivotal voting cohort, let’s not allow Latina voters to get lost in the noise. 

1. Analysis of Current Population Survey, November Supplement on Voting and Registration: 2000-2020 General Elections. For further analysis, see UnidosUS’s 2021 turnout study, https://unidosus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/UnidosUS-CCEP-Brief-3-FINAL.pdf; and Jane Junn’s scholarship on how the gender gap is largely a non-white voter voter phenomenon, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/gender-gap-is-a-race-gap-women-voters-in-us-presidential-elections/C2FD415F0CC8140156F4A73750760AA4 ↩︎