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Kay Bailey Hutchison Wins Latino Vote by Small Margin
Increases Seen In Both First Time And Foreign-Born Latino Voters

San Antonio, TX - Upon final entry of all data of the 2000 WCVI Texas Exit Poll of Latino voters, in the more surprising of results, Kay Bailey Hutchison won the Latino vote in Texas by a slim margin over her Democratic candidate, Gene Kelley, 49.7% to 48.6%, (1.7% voted for independent candidates). The 49.7 share is the largest percentage of the Latino vote ever garnered by a non-Latino Republican candidate in a senatorial campaign, according to exit polls done by WCVI since 1984.

It was also revealed that presidential preference was 65.2% for Al Gore/Joseph Lieberman, 33.1% for George W. Bush/Dick Cheney, 1.7% for the third party candidates Ralph Nader and Patrick Buchanan. This total is far short of the majority support for Bush predicted by many observers. Nevertheless, 33 share is the largest percentage of the Latino vote ever garnered by a non-Latino Republican candidate in a presidential campaign, according to exit polls done by WCVI since 1984, and nearly double the support Bob Dole received in the '96 campaign, 15.4%.

The increased support for George W. Bush did not translate into a substantial increase in support for congressional candidates. Latino voters indicated 75.2% preference for Democratic candidates, 23.9% for Republican, and 0.95 for independent candidates. These numbers are a slight decrease from the 84.3% and 13.6% support received by Democrats and Republican congressional candidates respectively in '96.

Additionally, Latinos registered after 1996 compromised nearly 30% of the Latino electorate. First-time Latino voters were also on the rise from 1996, 14.6% to 23%. Foreign-Born voters also were on the rise 13.3% to 20.6%.

The William C. Velásquez Institute conducted an exit poll to measure how Latinos voted during the November 2000 presidential elections. Trained interviewers in both English and Spanish administered the survey to 957 Latino voters in 32 Texas precincts. The sample was designed to cover 90% of all Latino voters in the state. Precincts from 5% to 100% of registered Latino voters were included in the sample. The design is a stratified, two stage, probability-based sample. Precincts were included in the universe if they met minimum levels with respect to number and percentage of Latino voters. Precincts were than stratified by geography and percent Latino voter population. The voters poll touched on issues especially relevant to the Latino community which where either represented in the November election or are subject of ongoing local and national debate. The margin of error for this study is plus-minus 3.2%.