Politico: “Flanked by six of Virginia’s top Latino leaders, over pupusas and empanadas at a recent campaign-sponsored event, Terry McAuliffe met with a group of voters from countries like El Salvador, Peru and Venezuela to talk about his vision for his state.
“We don’t want to look like Texas. We don’t want to look like Florida,” said the former Democratic governor, who is running for his old job. “That’s why you getting out to vote is really important.”
Those two red states loom large in this year’s governor’s race because they’re shorthand for an issue that threatens Democratic prospects in Virginia and in midterm elections across the country in 2022 — the uptick in Latino support for then-President Donald Trump in 2020.https://e0259fa4b42559629d5f7124972e8af5.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
While President Joe Biden won a majority of Latino voters in both states, Trump’s gains among the traditionally reliable Democratic constituency were unmistakable.In Florida, Trump’s stronger-than-expected performance among Latinos of all backgrounds — not just Republican-leaning Cuban Americans — helped him carry the state.
In Virginia, Trump ran six points ahead of his 2016 performance with Latinos, according to exit polls.
Whether it was an anomaly or a sign of something larger, Virginia Democrats aren’t taking any chances in November. The McAuliffe campaign is going to great lengths to win over and drive turnout among Latinos, who constitute roughly 11 percent of the state’s population.”