ELECTION DAY LATINOS VOTE DEMOCRATIC IN FLORIDA ,
New Trend Could be Emerging
For the first time since 1996 a majority of Florida Latinos voted Democrat in the 2006 mid term elections. Unweighted preliminary results from an exit poll conducted by the William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI) showed that more than 64% of Latinos voted for a democrat in congressional races around the state.
1. For whom did you vote in your Congressional District race? |
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TOPLINES: FLORIDA |
Democratic Candidate |
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64.5% |
Republican Candidate |
|
33.1% |
Other Candidate |
|
2.4% |
Source: 2006 WCVI Florida Exit Poll
“It’s interesting to note that Florida Latinos went Democrat in almost every major race in the state,” said Antonio Gonzalez, WCVI president. “Also of note is the 68% that said they were dissatisfied with the direction the country is headed,” he added.
Fifty-eight percent of those polled also stated that it’s time to bring the troops home from Iraq. In the governor’s race, 52.5% of Latinos voted for Congressman Jim Davis over the eventual winner Charlie Crist and 60.3% voted for Democratic Senate incumbent Bill Nelson against Republican Congresswomen Katherine Harris.
5. Do you favor keeping a large number of U.S. troops in Iraq until there is a stable government there OR bringing most of our troops home in the next year? |
|
|
Wait for Stable Government |
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30.3% |
Bring Home Next Year |
|
57.7% |
Unsure |
|
12.0% |
Source: 2006 WCVI Florida Exit Poll
19. ONLY FLORIDA VOTERS: Whom did you vote for in the Gubernatorial race? |
|
|
Charlie Crist |
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42.3% |
Jim Davis |
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53.4% |
Other Candidate |
|
4.3% |
|
|
|
20. ONLY FLORIDA VOTERS: For whom did you vote in your Senate race? |
|
|
Katherine Harris |
|
35.3% |
Bill Nelson |
|
59.0% |
Other Candidate |
|
5.7% |
Source: 2006 WCVI Florida Exit Poll
This marks only the second time in a generation that Florida Latinos have voted Democratic –the other time being 1996 for President Clinton.
The survey was conducted among 726 Election Day voters in 34 precincts throughout Florida. The margin of error was +-3.5%.
About the Willie C. Velasquez Institute
Chartered in 1985, the Willie C. Velasquez Institute is a nonpartisan, non-profit, Latino-oriented research and policy think tank with offices in San Antonio, Texas and Los Angeles, California. For more information regarding WCVI, please visit our website at www.wcvi.org.
