Hispanic American Voters Could Decide Georgia Senate Runoff Election, Dems and GOP Mobilize Latino Target Groups

Democrats and Republicans targeting their campaign efforts to win the Georgia Senate race between Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker have turned their attention to Hispanic American voters who could be a deciding factor.

Neither candidate reached the state required 50% threshold to emerge victorious on Nov. 8 due to the 2% garnered by Libertarian Party Senate candidate Chase Oliver.

As the two candidates now face a tight runoff in the spotlight, both parties are convinced that Hispanic American voters, who make up 5% of Georgia voters, could hold the margin needed for a victory.

In Georgia, Hispanic Americans make up the third-largest group, totaling 1.1 million statewide, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. Of those 1.1 million Hispanic Americans living in the state, the Georgia Secretary of State has reported there are 300,000 registered voters, and that about 88% of those are “active.”

Of the 1.1 million Hispanic Americans living in the state, the Georgia Secretary of State has reported there are 300,000 registered voters, and that about 88% of those are “active.”

In August 2021 the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Georgia’s Hispanic population had “surged.”

Hispanic American voters gave Warnock an edge of about 80,000 votes on Election Day, according to NBC, and as a result, both progressive and conservative groups are beginning to mobilize organizations in the Peach State to target potential Latino votes.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is has mobilized its Operación ¡Vamos! outreach program to help Walker and Democrats are coordinating with progressive groups such as Poder Latinx and the GALEO Impact Fund.

Poder Latinx has been trying to attract potential voters by giving out bingo-like Mexican lotería cards to Taco Tuesdays and GALEO is organizing World Cup watch parties.

“If this is a 1% election, it looks like Latinos could provide that key margin,” said Matt Barreto, the co-founder and president of Democratic polling firm BSP Research in an interview with NBC News.

So far, Georgia has seen a record turnout for in-person early voting which already saw 300,000 ballots cast on Monday and then again on Tuesday. According to the Georgia secretary of state’s office, more than 18,000 Latinos had already voted early in the runoff election as of Thursday morning, making up 1.6% of the early vote.

Barreto said Hispanic Americans “could be that key group,” that is the deciding factor for the race.

As part of the parties’ efforts, they are mobilizing bilingual canvassers. GALEO, a left learning nonprofit targeting Latino voting for Warnock is taking to the streets and visiting residential areas for outreach. They have also distributed “El Pastor” lotería cards to promote the Georgia senator who previously served as a pastor in Atlanta and New York…. (Excerpt from The Georgia Star News)