Hispanics generally have more positive attitudes toward the Democratic Party than the Republican Party, viewing the Democratic Party as more concerned about Hispanics and their interests. They also are more likely to say Democrats work hard to earn the votes of Hispanics than they are to say the same about Republicans. Even so, the positive feelings Latino partisans have for their own party are relatively lukewarm when compared with the strong negative feelings they have toward the opposing party.
Hispanics’ views of how well the U.S. parties represent their interests
A majority of Latino adults (60%) say the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them somewhat or very well, while about a third (34%) say the same about the Republican Party, according to the new Pew Research Center survey. By comparison, U.S. adults overall are more divided in their views of the political parties, with similar shares saying the Democratic Party (47%) and Republican Party (44%) represent their interests.
Views about the U.S. political parties among Latinos vary sharply by party affiliation, just as they do among the general public. Nearly nine-in-ten Latino Democrats (89%) say the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them somewhat or very well, while 80% of Latino Republicans say the Democratic Party does not represent their interests well.
Views also diverge among Latinos who lean toward a party but do not identify as a partisan, though the differences are smaller than among Latino partisans. For example, among independents and those who are not partisans, 67% of Democratic leaners say the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them at least somewhat well, while 68% of Republican leaners say the Democratic Party does not represent their interests.
Partisan views of how well the political parties represent Hispanics are also linked to political ideology. Among Republicans and GOP leaners, just 16% of conservatives say the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them at least somewhat well while 33% of moderates and liberals say the same.
Relatively smaller shares of Hispanics say the Republican Party represents the interests of people like them at least somewhat well. About a third of Hispanic adults (34%) say this, compared with 44% of U.S. adults overall.
Just as with views of the Democratic Party, Hispanics’ views of the GOP are sharply divided by partisanship. A strong majority of Hispanic Republicans (86%) say the Republican Party represents the interests of people like them at least somewhat well, while only 15% of Hispanic Democrats say so. Independents have more mixed views of the Republican Party, just as they do about the Democratic Party. Among Hispanic independents and those who are not partisans, 66% of Republican leaners say the GOP represents the interests of people like them, while 23% of Democratic leaners say the same.
Among Hispanic Democrats and Democratic leaners, about a quarter of conservatives and moderates (22%) say the GOP represents the interests of people like them at least somewhat well, while only 12% of liberals say this. Among Hispanic Republicans and Republican leaners, a greater share of conservatives (81%) than moderates and liberals (71%) say the GOP represents the interests of people like them well.
Hispanics broadly have a more positive view of the Democratic Party than the GOP, with majorities saying the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them well across gender, education, nativity, age and language groups. A smaller share of Hispanics overall (34%) say the Republican Party represents their interests at least somewhat well.
Views vary somewhat by religion. About half of Latino evangelical Protestants (52%) say the Republican Party represents the interests of people like them at least somewhat well – a greater share than among Latino Catholics (32%) or religiously unaffiliated Latinos (28%). Meanwhile, about two-thirds of Latino Catholics (67%) say the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them well, a greater share than among Latinos with no religious affiliation (56%) and Latino evangelicals (53%).
Hispanic origin groups’ views of the U.S. political parties
Hispanics have generally favorable views of the Democratic Party, regardless of their family’s origins. For example, significant shares of Mexicans (62%) and Puerto Ricans (58%) in the U.S. say that the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them somewhat or very well. Meanwhile, a minority in each group (32% and 36%, respectively) say the Republican Party represents their interests well.
Cubans’ views of the Republican Party stand in contrast to other U.S. Latinos, reflecting the group’s long-held preference for the GOP. But Cubans also express relatively positive views of the Democratic Party. Cubans are about as likely to say that the Democratic Party represents the interests of people like them as they are to say the same about the Republican Party.
Latinos more likely to say the Democratic Party, rather than the GOP, cares about Hispanics
Respondents in the Center’s survey were asked how well the statement “the Democratic Party really cares about Hispanics” described their views. Roughly a quarter (26%) say it describes their views very or extremely well. A larger share say it describes their views somewhat well (37%), and a similar share (34%) say the statement does not describe their views too well or at all.
Hispanic Democrats have generally positive views of the Democratic Party, though their enthusiasm is lukewarm – 46% say the statement “the Democratic Party really cares about Hispanics” describes their views somewhat well, and a similar share (41%) say it describes their views very or extremely well.
Hispanic Democrats are more likely than Democratic leaners to say the statement “the Democratic Party really cares about Hispanics” describes their views very or extremely well (41% vs. 23%). Meanwhile, 70% of Hispanic Republicans and 56% of Republican leaners say the statement does not describe their views well.
Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, about a third of conservatives and moderates (34%) and liberals (33%) say the statement “the Democratic Party really cares about Hispanics” describes their views very or extremely well. Meanwhile, a larger share of conservative Republicans and Republican leaners (70%) say the statement does not describe their views well, compared with about half of Republican moderates and liberals (56%).
Meanwhile, Hispanics have more negative views of the Republican Party. Survey respondents were asked how well the statement “the Republican Party really cares about Hispanics” describes their views. A majority (63%) say the statement does not describe their views well, while 21% say somewhat well; only 14% say it describes their views very or extremely well.
Hispanics’ views of the GOP are sharply divided by party, just as they are for the Democratic Party. A substantial share of Republicans (41%) say the Republican Party really cares about Hispanics, compared with only 7% of Democrats; 12% of independents and those who do not identify as partisan say the same. Even so, Hispanic Republicans have a lukewarm view of their party and how much it cares about Hispanics: 31% say this statement represents their views about the Republican Party somewhat well and 26% say it doesn’t represent their views about the party at all.
Among Hispanic Democrats and Democratic leaners, a strong majority of conservatives and moderates (75%) and liberals (84%) alike say the statement “the Republican Party really cares about Hispanics” does not describe their views. Among Hispanic Republicans and Republican leaners, 41% of conservatives say the statement describes their views well, while 25% of moderates and liberal say the statement describes their views somewhat well.
Views on how hard the U.S. political parties work to earn Latinos’ votes
Latinos have mixed views on whether Democrats work hard to win Latinos’ votes. About seven-in-ten (71%) say the statement “Democrats work hard to win Latinos’ votes” describes their views either very or extremely well (36%) or somewhat well (35%). This is a greater share than the 63% who say the statement “the Democratic Party really cares about Latinos” describes their views at least somewhat well.
About half of Latino Democrats (51%) say the Democratic Party works hard to earn Latinos’ votes, saying the statement describes their views well. By contrast, nearly half of Republicans (46%) hold the opposing view that the statement does not describe their views well. Among Hispanic independents and those who are not partisans, 29% of those who lean Democratic say Democrats work hard to win Latinos’ votes, while 41% who lean Republican say the statement does not describe their view well.
More than four-in-ten Latino Democrats and Democratic leaners who describe their political views as conservative or moderate (45%) say the statement “Democrats work hard to earn Latinos’ votes” reflects their views very or extremely well, as do 36% of Latino Democrats and Democratic leaners who say they are liberal. By contrast, about half of Latino Republicans and Republican leaners who say they are conservative (47%) say the statement “Democrats work hard to earn people’s votes” does not describe their views well.
Relatively few Latinos say Republicans try hard to earn their vote. About one-in-five Latinos (19%) say the statement “Republicans work hard to earn Latinos’ votes” describes their views very or extremely well. Among Latino Republicans, 40% say the statement describes their views well, compared with only 13% of Latino Democrats. Among independents and those who do not identify as partisans, 13% who lean Democratic say the statement describes their views well. Republican-leaning independents have distinct views from Republican partisans on this measure. A smaller share of GOP leaners than Republican partisans say the statement describes their views well (28% vs. 40%).
A substantial share of Latino Republican and Republican-leaning conservatives (40%) say “Republicans work hard to earn Latinos’ votes” describes their views at least very well, while Latino Republican moderates and liberals are more divided in their views. Among Latino Democrats and Democratic leaners, majorities of liberals (70%) and conservatives and moderates (61%) say the statement does not describe their views well.
Certain groups of Latinos are especially likely to say the statement “Democrats work hard to earn Latinos’ votes” describes their views very or extremely well. Among Latinos, similar shares of immigrants (44%), Spanish-dominant Latinos (48%), Catholics (42%) and evangelical Protestants (42%) say this. The shares of Latinos ages 50 to 64 (45%) and ages 65 or older (46%) who say the same are also similar.
Smaller shares of Latinos say the statement “Republicans work hard to earn Latinos’ votes” describes their views well, including about a quarter of immigrants (23%), Spanish-dominant Latinos (24%), evangelicals (27%), those ages 50 to 64 (25%) and those ages 65 or older (23%).
Fewer than half of Hispanics see a great deal of difference between the U.S. political parties
While partisan polarization is a dominant feature of U.S. politics today, fewer than half of Latinos (45%) say there is a great deal of difference between what the Democratic and Republican parties stand for. About half (52%) say there is either a fair amount of difference (36%) or hardly any difference at all (16%). A majority of U.S. adults (57%), by contrast, say there is a great deal of difference between the parties.
A significant share of Hispanic Democrats (54%) and Hispanic Republicans (57%) say there is a great deal of difference between what the parties stand for. Smaller shares of independent Hispanics who lean Democratic (35%) and lean Republican (39%) say there is a great deal of difference between the parties.
Among Latino Democrats and Democratic leaners who are liberal, 54% say there is a great deal of difference between the parties while 43% who are moderate or conservative say this. Among Latino Republicans and Republican leaners, 58% who are conservative say there is a big difference between the parties, compared with only 38% of moderates and liberals.
About half of Hispanics who have a college degree (53%), who are English dominant (52%) and are ages 65 or older (57%) say there is a great deal of difference between the Democratic and Republican parties.
Smaller shares of Hispanics who have a high school education or less (40%), are Spanish dominant (34%) and are ages 30 to 49 (38%) say there is a great deal of difference between the parties.
Small shares of Hispanics across all demographic groups say there is hardly any difference at all between the parties, though those with a high school education or less are more likely than those with at least a bachelor’s degree to say so (19% vs. 10%).
