Latinos voted for President Barack Obama over Republican Paw Romney by 71% to 27%, according to an analysis of leave polls by the Pew Hispanic Center, a Project of the Pew Research Center.one

Obama's national vote share among Hispanic voters is the highest seen by a Democratic candidate since 1996, when President Beak Clinton won 72% of the Hispanic vote.

The Centre'due south analysis finds that Latinos made up 10% of the electorate, every bit indicated by the national exit poll, up from nine% in 2008 and eight% in 2004.2 The analysis besides shows that every bit a group, non-white voters made up 28% of the nation's electorate, up from 26% in 2008.3

Battleground States

Hispanics fabricated up a growing share of voters in three of the key battlefield states in yesterday's election—Florida, Nevada and Colorado.

Obama carried Florida's Hispanic vote 60% to 39%, an improvement over his 57% to 42% showing in 2008. Also, Hispanics made up 17% of the Florida electorate this twelvemonth, up from fourteen% in 2008.

The country's growing non-Cuban population—especially growth in the Puerto Rican population in primal Florida—contributed to the president's improved showing among Hispanic voters. This year, according to the Florida leave poll, 34% of Hispanic voters were Cuban while 57% were not-Cuban. Among Cuban voters, the vote was split—49% supported Obama while 47% supported Romney. Among the state's non-Cuban voters, Obama won 66% versus 34% for Romney.

In Colorado, Obama carried the Latino vote by a wide margin—75% to 23%. The president's performance amongst Latino voters in Colorado was amend than in 2008, when Obama won the Latino vote 61% to 38%. Hispanics made up 14% of Colorado voters this year, up from 13% in 2008.

In Nevada, Obama won the Hispanic vote lxx% to 25%. However, the president's Hispanic vote was downward from the 76% share he won in 2008. Amidst voters in Nevada, the Hispanic share was eighteen%, up from fifteen% in 2008.

In other states, the president as well carried large shares of the Hispanic vote. Amongst other battlegrounds, Obama won 68% of the Hispanic vote in Due north Carolina, 65% in Wisconsin, 64% in Virginia and 53% in Ohio.

Top Issues for Hispanic Voters in 2012

For Hispanic voters, according to the national exit poll, threescore% identified the economic system every bit the near of import issue (of four listed) facing the land today, well-nigh the same as the share (59%) of the general electorate that identified the economy as the nation's most of import issue. On the other iii issues asked about, for Hispanic voters, the economic system was followed past wellness care (eighteen%), the federal budget deficit (11%) and foreign policy (6%).

Throughout this ballot cycle, the issue of immigration has been an important issue for Hispanics. In the national exit poll, voters were asked about what should happen to unauthorized immigrants working in the U.South. Co-ordinate to the national exit poll, 77% of Hispanic voters said these immigrants should be offered a chance to apply for legal status while xviii% said these immigrants should exist deported. Among all voters, fewer than ii-thirds (65%) said these immigrants should be offered a adventure to apply for legal condition while 28% say they should be deported.

Demographics of the Latino Vote

Among Latino voters, support for Obama was stiff among all major demographic sub-groups. Nonetheless some differences were axiomatic. According to the national exit poll, Hispanic women supported Obama more than Hispanic males—76% versus 65%.

Latino youth, simply as all youth nationwide, supported Obama over Romney, but did then by a wider margin—74% versus 23% for Latino youth compared with 60% versus 37% among all youth. Obama won other Latino age groups by nearly as big a margin.

Amidst Hispanic college graduates, 62% voted for Obama while 35% supported Romney. By contrast, 75% of Hispanics without a higher caste voted for Obama while 24% voted for Romney.

Another gap was evident among Latino voters when viewed by income. Among Latino voters whose total family income is below $50,000, 82% voted for Obama while 17% voted for Romney. Amidst Latino voters with family incomes of $l,000 or more, 59% voted for Obama while 39% voted for Romney.

Most this Written report

Go out poll results for this report were obtained from CNN's Election 2012 website and are based on National Election Puddle national and state exit poll surveys of voters as reported on November 6, 2012. In add-on to an analysis of the national Latino vote, 12 states were examined. These states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Eileen Patten for excellent research assistance. Seth Motel checked numbers in the report.

A Note on Terminology

The terms "Latino" and "Hispanic" are used interchangeably in this report.