Polls show President Biden not connecting with Hispanic voters, with only 26% approving of his performance

According to a new Quinnipiac University poll that was published last Wednesday, just 26 percent of Hispanic voters surveyed responded that they think favorably of President Joe Biden’s job performance, which is the lowest mark out of any demographic group.

This new survey is just the latest in a stretch of poor approval ratings for the president, but his lack of favor with Hispanic voters could be trouble for him. 

Biden and the Democrats could be in for a rough midterm election season as the major decrease in support among Hispanic voters may be a foreshadowing indicator. That voting group tended to turn away from Biden in states such as Texas and Florida as the bloc actually pushed him to victory in crucial battleground states like Arizona and Georgia.

Furthermore, though the president’s low approval rating might not directly mean lower support for Democratic or Republican candidates come November, Democratic voters who do not highly favor Biden may be less likely to show up to the polls.

“If Latinos are disapproving of the president’s performance, how might that translate into the congressional elections in November? That could translate in two ways. It could translate into Latinos choosing to support a non-Democratic candidate – whether that’s a Republican or an independent remains to be seen in the different congressional districts,” said the director of race and ethnicity research at Pew Research Center, Mark Hugo Lopez. “But the other way that that might happen is that Latino voters may not feel motivated to turn out and vote,” he added.

The poll published on Wednesday by Quinnipiac indicated that Biden’s approval rating is currently at 33 percent, signifying a new low point for the president. An earlier poll by the university showed Biden’s approval rating at 36 percent, with 32 percent of Hispanics saying they approved of the president’s job performance.

“I think that a lot of time, there’s this narrative in D.C. among Democrats that you only talk to Latinos about immigration,” said John Anzalone, a Biden pollster. “Like, immigration is the 12th issue they’re concerned about. Guess what? They’re concerned about the same things everyone else is concerned about. It’s always about the economy or inflation or health care or schools.”