Despite the growing influence of Texas’ Latino voters, early polling by Spanish-language media group TelevisaUnivision suggests candidates still may be failing to connect with them.
TelevisaUnivision CEO Daniel Alegre told the Current the poll results suggest campaign messages have failed to resonate with many Latino voters, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars candidates and parties poured into political ads this cycle.
“When you have a broad-based message that is supposed to appeal to everyone watching, you’re not narrowing down on the specific issues and the specific nuances that matter to the Hispanic vote,” Alegre said.
A survey of 1,000 registered Hispanic voters, conducted by the Cook Political Report and TelevisaUnivision, found that two-thirds of potential voters want to see candidate outreach in Spanish. Meanwhile, the report found that around 69% of Hispanic voters said they recognized candidates’ Spanish-language media as reflecting a desire to win over the viewer’s vote.
While Republicans have spent nearly $240 million on political advertising in Texas’ U.S. Senate race, just $3.5 million, or 1.5% of the total, has gone to Spanish-language ad buys, the Texas Tribune reports. Democrats have spent $5.3 million of their $98 million in advertising in that race on Spanish-language buys.
The TelevisaUnivision poll also showed a consistent picture of Hispanic voters remaining issue-driven, with affordability repeatedly emerging as a top concern. After historically moving toward Republican candidates in 2024, the group’s renewed support for Democrats has solidified Latino voters as a competitive electorate for both parties, Alegre said.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa has done Spanish-language outreach through both community events and Spanish-language ad buys. Her latest Spanish-language buy is a 30-second spot titled “No Te Dejes.”
For his part, incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has released Spanish-languahe ads criticizing the policies of Hinojosa, an Austin-area state rep.
Latino voters’ dissatisfaction with political campaigns doesn’t mean they don’t understand their own political influence, TelevisaUnivision’s Alegre said. According to the media outlet’s poll, 41% of Hispanic voters believe they have real political power, suggesting many understand that their vote “seriously matters,” Alegre said.
Since Latino voters remain an important demographic for both parties, Alegre said candidates should make greater efforts to connect with them on a personal level.
“They’re telling us very clearly they want to be connected in Spanish because it means that the candidate really cares about them,” Alegre said. “While the vast majority of the spending to date has been on broad-based English media, clearly the message is not resonating with what mathematically is the most important voting bloc in Texas.”
Michael Karlis contributed to this report.
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