Are Latino voters really defecting in droves to Republicans? Not according to our data

A widespread and misleading story about the Latino vote has taken hold in the media. It goes something like this: Latinos used to be monolithic base voters for Democrats, but now they are fracturing and increasingly fleeing to Republicans.

As longtime practitioners of Latino voter outreach, we’re skeptical of this herd narrative, and we have data to support our misgivings.

Our community is dynamic, diverse and fast-growing. It includes primarily English-speaking, fifth-generation Mexican Americans, many of whom are proud veterans of our armed forces or lifelong union members; recently naturalized, largely Spanish-speaking Mexican and Central American immigrants, especially in the West and Southwest, for whom economic opportunity, education, healthcare and immigration policy are particularly important; large Puerto Rican and Dominican populations in the ever-critical battleground state of Pennsylvania; and long-established families and recently arrived refugees from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua who live in Florida and care deeply about democracy.