Abstract
Despite Latino Americans’ consistent support for the Democratic Party over the last five decades, the number of Latino Americans who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election grew by 10% compared to the 2020 election. What ideological and sociodemographic factors apart from ethnic identity may have influenced their voting behavior in the 2024 Presidential Election? Although previous work has demonstrated a person’s Latino identity strength can influence their political behavior, Latino Americans hold other ideologies and sociodemographic factors that may influence their voting. Here, 186 Mexican Americans (the Latino group that voted the most for Harris) and 176 Cuban Americans (the Latino group that voted the most for Trump) participants completed measures of ethnic identity, acculturation, Latino-specific gender norms, conservatism, traditionalism, income, and religiosity among others. Across all participants, having higher levels of traditionalism was the most consistent predictor of voting for Trump over Harris. Voting for Trump over Harris was associated with higher levels of machismo (i.e., gender norms about men common in Latin American societies) only in Mexican Americans, whereas voting for Trump over Harris was associated with having a higher income only in Cuban Americans. These results suggest there are multiple, distinct ideologies and sociodemographic factors in Latino voters that influence their political preferences, rationales, and voting behavior.
Public Significance Statement
In the 2024 Presidential Election, high levels of traditionalism were associated with voting for Trump over Harris for both Mexican and Cuban Americans. These groups diverged such that Mexican Americans with higher levels of machismo (i.e., gender norms about men) and Cuban Americans with higher incomes were more likely to vote for Trump over Harris. These results underscore the intersectionality and within group diversity that exist within Latino Americans.