New Poll Finds Healthcare Access, Jobs, Homeland Security Top Issues Among Florida Latinos; Martinez Bests Castor by 20 Points in Survey
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- A new poll conducted among likely Latino voters this week in the battleground state of Florida finds President George W. Bush leading U.S. Senator John Kerry by a margin of 44% to 37%, with16% of respondents still undecided. The poll, conducted prior to Thursday night's debate between the presidential challengers also found that, unlike prior polls, health care access, jobs, and homeland security topped the list of issues respondents care about in determining their vote for president.
"This is terrible news for President Bush," said Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Willie C. Velasquez Institute. "He may be leading, but he did far better in the 2000 election when he won the Latino vote by 61% to 39%. This margin will probably not be enough for President Bush if this election is anywhere near as close as the last one. He has to convince Latinos he can do a better job than Senator Kerry and at this point he simply hasn't to the degree that he needs to."
Overall, Latinos give President Bush reasonably solid numbers on job performance, with 56% rating the President as excellent or good compared to42% of respondents rating him as not good or poor. An equal number of respondents rated President Bush's serving the Hispanic community as excellent or good 46% as not good or poor 46%. When compared to Senator Kerry in terms of reaching out to the Hispanic community, respondents believe the Presidentis making a stronger effort to reach out to the Hispanic community over Kerry by a margin of 44% to 24%, with 13% saying neither has done a good job of outreach.
"Senator Kerry is not perceived by Latino voters as showing up in Florida, added Gonzalez. "He has got to ask for the Latino vote and he hasn't done that effectively and consistently. There is still a large percentage out there that can be wooed to his side, but he's got to get out there and not take them or granted, or for that matter, write them off."
When asked which three issues would determine their vote for president this year, Latinos surprisingly cited health care access as their number one issue (38%), followed by strengthening jobs (28%), homeland security (28%),and social security (26%). The war in Iraq was cited by only 24% of respondents.
President Bush was considered a strong leader over his democratic opponent by a margin of 55% to 26%, and was rated best in terms of understanding the Hispanic community's needs, with 47% siding with the President compared to Senator Kerry, at 25%.
In the closely contested U.S. Senate race, U.S. Representative Mel Martinez has a strong lead over challenger Betty Castor, with Latino respondents choosing Martinez over Castor by a margin of 48% to 28%, with 23% still undecided. Martinez bests Castor in every age, gender and income category except those in the 18 to 34 age group (28% to 37%), and those who make over $60,000 annually (38% to 48%). The sample, conducted September 27 - 30, includes a total of 1000 interviews (200 interviews each in Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida and Arizona) with an overall margin of error of plus/minus 3%. The margin of error for each state is significantly higher. The poll for WCVI was conducted by Mirram Global, a consulting firm in New York with vast experience in measuring the Latino community.
About the Willie C. Velasquez Institute Chartered in 1985, the Willie C. Velasquez Institute is a nonpartisan, non-profit, Latino-oriented research and policy think tank with offices in SanAntonio, Texas and Los Angeles, California. For more information regarding WCVI, please visit our website at http://www.wcvi.org.
SOURCE The Willie C. Velasquez Institute
Web Site: http://www.wcvi.org/
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