A new study by the Pew Research Center revealed that three-quarters of Latino Catholics and eight-in ten religiously unaffiliated Latinos are President Barack Obama supporters. The research also revealed that Latino evangelical Protestants only support Obama 50 percent, while they support Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney 39 percent.
The Pew Research Center stated that Latinos account for 11 percent of the nation's eligible electorate compared to 9.5 percent in 2008. Latino registered voters overwhelmingly support President Obama in his re-election bid (69 percent) as opposed to Romney (21 percent), the study found.
Registered Latino Catholics mimic the overall support trend, supporting Obama 73 percent and Romney 19 percent. According to the study, non-affiliated Latinos also tremendously support Obama (82 percent) over Romney (7 percent). There is a less clear division among Latino evangelical Protestants, who support Obama 50 percent and Romney 39 percent.
According to the Pew Research Center, Latino support for same-sex marriage is also on the rise. Fifty-four percent of Latino Catholics approve of legalized same-sex marriage, while 31 percent oppose it. Similarly, 71 percent of religiously unaffiliated Latinos favor legalized same-sex marriage.
Latino evangelical Protestants, however, largely oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage by 66 percent; 25 percent favor legalized same-sex marriage. Overall, Latinos support legalizing same-sex marriage (52 percent) more than oppose it (34 percent). According to Pew, this reflects the national trend towards same-sex marriage among the general public.
The trends in support towards Obama versus the support towards Romney are reflected in the political party leanings found among Latinos. According to the study, eight-in-ten non-affiliated Latino voters and seven-in-ten Latino Catholics identify or lean towards the Democratic Party. On the other hand, only half of Latino evangelical voters identify or lean towards the Democratic Party and about a third identify or lean towards the Republican Party.
As the Latino vote becomes increasingly more important, these statistics may provide a window into what is expected this election. President Obama has the larger support of the Hispanic community and will need to continue to hold on to that support in order to win a re-election.
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