Hispanics in the 2008 Election: New Mexico

New Mexico’s Hispanic population is the ninth-largest in the nation. More than 874,000 Hispanics reside in New Mexico, 2% of all Hispanics in the United States. There are 501,000 eligible Hispanic voters in New Mexico, 3% of all U.S. Hispanic eligible voters.¹ This fact sheet provides key demographic information on Latino eligible voters.² It also contains data on other major groups of eligible voters in New Mexico, with comparative data for the U.S. All data are from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey.³

Hispanics in New Mexico’s Eligible Voter Population

• New Mexico’s population is 45% Hispanic, the highest Hispanic population share nationally.
• 38% of eligible voters in New Mexico are Latinos, the largest Hispanic eligible voter population share nationally.
• 57% of Latinos in New Mexico are eligible to vote, ranking 4th nationwide in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote.

  

Characteristics of Eligible Voters

• 

  29% of Hispanic eligible voters in New Mexico are ages 18 to 29. By contrast, 23% of all New Mexico eligible voters and 22% of all U.S. eligible voters are in that range.

• Hispanic eligible voters in New Mexico are just as likely as all eligible voters in the U.S. to be citizens by birth—93% in both cases. They are more likely to be U.S. citizens by birth (93%) than all Hispanic eligible voters nationwide (74%).
• 23% of Latino eligible voters in New Mexico have not completed high school compared with 27% of all Latino eligible voters nationwide. By contrast, 15% of all New Mexico eligible voters and 14% of all eligible voters nationwide have not completed high school.
• Almost three quarters of New Mexico Hispanic eligible voters live in owner-occupied homes compared with 6 in 10 Hispanic eligible voters nationwide. A slightly greater share of Hispanic eligible voters in New Mexico live in owner-occupied homes than do all U.S. eligible voters—74% versus 71%.

Characteristics of Eligible Voters in New Mexico, by Race and Ethnicity

• 

  Latino eligible voters outnumber Native American eligible voters in New Mexico by more than 4 to 1.

• Latino and Native American eligible voters are younger than white eligible voters in New Mexico. About 29% of Latinos are ages 18 to 29, as are 33% of New Mexico Native American eligible voters, compared with 17% of white eligible voters.
• Similar shares of New Mexico Hispanic and white eligible voters live in owner-occupied homes—74% and 75% respectively. A somewhat smaller share of Native American eligible voters live in owner-occupied homes (65%).