MEMO: Democrats Must Seize Opening with Latino Voters on Economy and Immigration

Key Findings

Voto Latino, in partnership with Swayable, tested a series of six ads on the economy and immigration among a national sample of 1,388 Latinos. Additionally, for a period of six months, Voto Latino and Vocal Media ran a generative AI social listening program, across TikTok, to better understand the overarching trends, themes, and dominant topics of conversation among millennial and Gen Z Latinos.

These combined findings stress the significance of an offense strategy to seize the Latino electorate’s dissatisfaction with Republicans.

• Ads focused on Trump alone deepened existing negative feelings toward him but did not move GOP favorability or Democratic favorability, and did not increase vote enthusiasm. Only the ad focused on the Republican Party as a whole did all three. The path to winning Latino voters runs through Republican brand damage, not Trump brand damage.
• The ad “Economy Under the GOP” addressed economic pain points under Republican governance without explicitly mentioning President Trump. It increased Democratic favorability by 14 points, while decreasing Trump and Republican favorability by 8 and 7 points respectively. The ad particularly excelled at motivating voters, shifting vote likelihood by 7 points and increasing vote enthusiasm by 12 points.
• Young Latino voters are the most persuadable and most energized audience available. The same ad got Gen Z Latinos noticeably more fired up to vote, with enthusiasm jumping 17 points after seeing this message.
• The message also moved conservative Latinos more than any other group, 13 points toward Democrats. Financial discomfort crosses party lines: a Murmuration and Voto Latino survey of 6,559 adults found 57% of Democrats, 45% of Republicans, and 61% of independents describe themselves as financially uncomfortable.
• The ad “Cruelty: Immigration Detention” increased Democratic favorability by 9 points and lifted vote likelihood by 8 points among voters who sat out 2024, the same group the national poll finds is the most financially squeezed and least civically engaged in the country.
• Independent social listening across four LatinTok personas spanning the ideological spectrum confirms this opening in real time. Cost of living anxiety is the most consistent theme reaching every audience tracked, and opposition to ICE enforcement has broken into even the most apolitical, right leaning feeds since late 2025.