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By Suzanne Gamboa
AUSTIN, Texas – Latinos go to the polls Tuesday to vote in a mid-term election that, in many ways, is for many.
Health care and immigration were at the center of attention in mid-2018 and there was much interest in whether the election would be a Latin American reaction against President Donald Trump.
In addition, the result of several races in the American and American battlefields, such as Texas and Nevada, can be influenced by Latino's participation rate.
"We have seen a more concerted effort to mobilize Latinos," said Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, a political scientist and lecturer at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in Austin.
"We will not wake up on Wednesday and say" Oh my God, all the Latino are out ", it's not the case … Spoil alert, but I think we've seen a big move," she said.
The National Association of Elected and Appointed Latin American Officials (NALEO) expects a 15% increase in the number of Latinos votes this year, about 7.8 million compared to 6.8 million in 2014.
There are a number of congressional congressional candidates on the ballot, some of them in battlefield districts, including Xochitl Torres Small in New Mexico, Gil Cisneros in California, and Antonio Delgado in New York. .
Some, too, are virtually certain to win their races, such as Virginia Escobar and Sylvia Garcia in Texas, who will make history as the first Latinas to represent the Lone Star State at the US House and Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, whose surprise victory was won in the United States. Primary on a former long-standing Democratic party in New York has put it in the limelight.
Democrats from the beginning have made health care a central theme of their campaigns, hammering Republicans on the GOP votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
This is a problem that affects many Latin American households, which are the least secure ethnic and racial group in the country and have experienced a sharp decline in the number of uninsured families under the Affordable Care Act.
Access to health care is a big issue for Samantha Branch, 19, a student at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. Her coverage with Medicaid stopped when she was 18 years old. she is not covered by her parents' blanket. She voted for the first time in this election.
"I feel that it needs a change and that my voice needs to be heard," said Branch at NBC News. I have a more liberal point of view and, in Texas, he is more conservative and republican, and I would like more from a democratic party. voice, and the youth to be heard, "
Will immigration mobilize voters?
Last week, the president launched the first of the 15,000 active troops that he would intend to send to the southern border. About 160 soldiers are in the McAllen area of Hidalgo County, where 90.6% of the population is Latino.
According to the McAllen (Texas) Monitor, the number of people who voted early in Hidalgo County has more than doubled from 2014.
Earlier voting also jumped in El Paso County, Texas, where Democrat Beto O 'Rourke, a congressman who defies US Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican who made history in the US, is sitting. becoming the first Hispanic to win the Iowa primary when he ran for president. 2016
Republicans control the US Senate 51-49 and the outcome of the Cruz-O 'Rourke race could play a role in the battle against the chamber.
Tuesday's vote will demonstrate whether Trump's fierce fight against immigration – from his rhetoric about "invasion" of the migrant caravan to his separation of children from migrant parents at his insistence on the construction of a border wall – will push even more Latin American voters excited by his rhetoric towards the Democratic Party, not only in Texas, where Republicans have 35 to 45% of Hispanic voters voted in the last elections, but throughout the country.
Candidates like Escobar in Texas believe that Trump's rhetoric and actions have had an impact on voters.
"We want to send a very powerful message to Washington, DC, that the border will not stay on the sidelines during a period of unprecedented racism and hatred in my generation, so I'm very excited, I'm excited," Escobar m & # 39 said.
For voters like Robert Benavides, 52, of San Antonio, it is the opposite. He said he could not support O'Rourke, in part, because of Mr. O. Rourke's perspective on immigration and health care. Benavides votes for Senator Cruz. "I'm all about helping others when you can, but there's a good way to do it," he said.
All Latin American Republicans do not subscribe to Trump's immigration policy. Artemio Muniz, president of the Federation of Hispanic Republicans in Texas, said he would not vote for Cruz or O'Rourke and that he would write in Ronald Reagan in protest.
He was trying to decide how to vote when Trump launched his call for the end of citizenship. Muniz's parents arrived in the United States without legal status and he was born here. Muniz said he could not support Cruz since the senator's views on immigration are similar or "worse" to Trump's. Trump organized a rally to support Cruz in Houston.
"The Texas Republican Party refuses to believe that immigration is a priority issue for Hispanics," Muniz said.
An NBC / Wall Street Journal newspaper released on Monday revealed the greatest enthusiasm among Latin American voters likely to arrive at polling day. They also have a more positive view of the Democratic Party.
The latest installment of a 10-week Latino Decisions / NALEO survey tracking registered Latin American voters revealed that a quarter of those polled said they voted early. Latino Decisions estimated Monday night that about 63 percent of registered Latin American voters would vote and 76 percent would vote Democrats against 24 percent who would vote Republican.
Beyond the candidates and federal candidates, there are several Latinos who run in state and local races and problems that attract people to the polls.
Three Latinos, Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexico, Lupe Valdez in Texas and David Garcia in Arizona are running for governorship in their respective states. Lujan Grisham looks set to win, but the battle was more difficult for Valdez and García.
In New York, Catalina Cruz, who grew up without legal status, shows up at the state assembly. In Arizona, January Contreras is a candidate for the post of Attorney General and Nevada, Kate Marshall is a candidate for the post of lieutenant governor. In Florida, Jeanette Nuñez is about to get the seat of lieutenant governor of the state, her fortune being tied to representative Ron DeSantis in his candidacy. governor against Andrew Gillum. If DeSantis wins, Nuñez will be the first lieutenant governor of Latina Florida.
Other reports from Carmen Sesín in Miami, Nicole Acevedo in New York, Patricia Guadalupe in Washington, D.C. and Stephen A. Nuño in Flagstaff, Arizona.
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