(The Center Square) – Recent polls found U.S. Latinos’ approval of President Donald Trump has fallen sharply since his second term began less than a year ago, with discontent directed at Trump’s immigration and economic policies.
The results come as Nevada looks to a 2026 governor’s election that is expected to be razor-sharp between the largely Trump-aligned sitting Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, and decidedly Trump-opposed challenger Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat.
One organization involved with a poll told The Center Square that the Latino vote could impact close Nevada races.
Across the country, 70% said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the presidency in a Pew Research Center poll of over 5,000 U.S. Latinos between September and October. In addition, 65% said they opposed his administration’s immigration policy, and 61% said the economy had worsened because of Trump’s policies.
Hispanic voter approval of Trump has decreased across the political spectrum since February, including Latinos who voted for Trump in 2024 (93% down to 81% this year). Pew Research Center said this trend followed the general decline in opinion across the American public.
Latino disapproval is most pronounced over immigration and public safety. Among Latinos surveyed, 68% said life for Hispanics is worse today than a year ago. That is up sharply from 26% in 2021 and 38% in 2019.
“This is the highest we’ve seen in any of the polling we’ve been doing on this question back to 2008,” said Mark Lopez, Pew Research Center director of Race and Ethnicity Research.
“This is even higher than it was during the Great Recession, for example, which was the last time it was near to this height,” Lopez told The Center Square.
Fear of Trump’s immigration policy has been rampant throughout Nevada. Broadacres Marketplace, a popular open-air market for Hispanic goods in Las Vegas, shut down earlier this year out of fears of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Pew’s poll found that roughly one-fifth – 19% – of all Latinos have changed their day-to-day schedule, expecting they will be asked to prove their legal status in the country. Eleven percent said they now carry documentation to prove their citizenship or immigration status.
“I think it reflects what I’ve been seeing in the news, and just anecdotal evidence from people who say that they are concerned about being, for example, at an Hispanic cultural event,” said Lopez. “Or they’re concerned about going to the supermarket, or taking their kids to school. [There’s been] a lot of news reports about that … What I was unaware of is how high that share was.”
The Pew Research Center poll also found that roughly one-third of Latinos considered leaving the country in the past six months, with more U.S.-born Latinos reporting that than foreign-born.
Meanwhile, 61% of U.S. Latinos said Trump’s policies had worsened the economy, while roughly one-third said they struggled to pay for food or groceries, medical care, and rent or mortgage in the past year.
In another poll by Latino political action group Somos Votantes and Somos PAC, about half of Latino voters said inflation and the cost of living should be the government’s priority. But only 14% agreed the government has made it a priority.
“The priority disconnect is central to Trump’s declining approval among Latino voters,” Somos Votantes wrote to The Center Square in an email. She added later, “The disconnect is translating directly into his worst approval ratings since we started tracking.”
The Somos Votantes poll also found that 84% and 61% of Latino voters reported being “motivated” and “highly motivated” to vote in upcoming elections, with 94% saying the economy drove their decision.
“Whether that translates to higher-than-typical midterm turnout is the question, but the intensity around economic concerns suggests Latino voters are primed to show up,” Somos Votantes said.
Both polls were conducted on a national scale, but Somos Votantes said the results could have a local impact in Nevada.
“These national trends should concern all Republicans in states with significant Latino populations,” Somos Votantes told The Center Square. “Highly motivated Latino voters driven almost entirely by economic concerns, blaming Republicans by double-digit margins for rising costs, with more than a third of Trump’s 2024 supporters expressing buyer’s remorse is a consequential recipe for disaster for Republicans in competitive states like Nevada.”
Neither the Nevada Democratic nor Republican parties responded to The Center Square’s request for comment.
