Latino registered voters identify health care as the top policy issue and overwhelmingly prefer President Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, according to a new poll released Monday.
The latest USA Today/Gallup poll — a survey conducted over a month from mid-April until late May with a sample of 1,005 registered voters — shows that 21 percent of Latinos say health care is the most important issue to them, while 19 percent regard unemployment as the top area of concern. Twelve percent pegged immigration, a policy area thrust back into the spotlight since Obama’s directive announced earlier this month to halt the deportation of some young undcoumented immigrants, as the most important issue.
The precedence given to health care among Latino voters may at least partly explain why Obama spoke extensively about the Affordable Care Act — colloquially known as Obamacare — during his address at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference last week.
Obama’s massive lead over Romney among Latino voters — 66 percent to 25 percent — is comparable to the president’s level of support among the burgeoning voting bloc in the 2008 election. The PollTracker Average likewise shows that Obama has consistently held a considerable lead over Romney among Latino voters throughout the current campaign.
