Latino Vote in 2012 Election: Latinos Provide Obama a Boost in Swing State Colorado; Texas Elects First Latino Senator with Ted Cruz

By Michael Oleaga / m.oleaga@latinospost.com (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Nov 07, 2012 08:03 PM EST

Tags Presidential Election 2012, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Latino Vote, Colorado, Ted Cruz

Barack Obama will continue to be the 44^th president of the United States, and the Latino vote is being credited to the decision.

To win the presidency, 270 Electoral College votes are needed and Obama, without Florida, has 303 votes to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's 206.

Florida is still going through the vote count process but according to Real Clear Politics, 100 percent of the votes counted have Obama with 49.9 percent to Romney's 49.3 percent but an official announcement has not been made.

According to Reuters, Obama received strong support from the fastest growing demographic in the nation - Hispanics - leading up to and on Election Day. According to a Reuters' poll, Obama won an estimated 66 percent of the Hispanic vote taken on Election Day.

Nearly 24 million Hispanics were eligible to vote, but approximately 11 million were likely to vote.

In addition, ABC News noted that among the Hispanic population, Obama received 74 percent to Romney's 25 percent for the swing state of Colorado.

Obama, overall, won Colorado's nine Electoral votes with 51.2 percent to Romney's 46.5 percent.

New Mexico also went and gave their five Electoral votes to Obama with 66 percent of Hispanics going for Obama to Romney's 28. New Mexico has some significance, as their governor is the Hispanic Republican Susana Martinez.

New Mexico, overall, went to Obama with 52.9 percent to the former Massachusetts governor's 43 percent.

Arizona's gave their 11 Electoral votes to Romney, it was also won in 2008 by Arizona Senator John McCain, but yet 77 percent of Hispanics voted for Obama to Romney's 22 percent.

Arizona ultimately, overall, went to Romney with 54.8 percent to Obama's 43.6 percent.

There is good news for Latino Republicans as the state of Texas elected Ted Cruz to the US Senate with 56.6 percent to Paul Sadler's 40.5 percent.

Cruz becomes the first Latino to win the Senate seat from Texas and becomes the third Latino currently in the Senate along with New Jersey's Bob Menendez and Florida's Marco Rubio. Menendez also won reelection on Tuesday with 58.4 percent to Joseph Kyrillos' 39.9 percent.