Latino Voters Keep Leaning Toward Democrats Ahead of The Midterms as Trump’s Approval Falls

Latino voters are approaching the 2026 midterm elections with greater interest than four years ago, a preference for Democratic congressional candidates and growing dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump, including among some who helped return him to office, new data shows.

A new Pew Research Center survey found that more than half of Latino registered voters (51%) support the Democratic House candidate in their district, compared with 24% who favor the Republican. Another 18% remain unsure, while 7% prefer another candidate.

Pew surveyed 5,062 adults, including 774 Hispanic registered voters, from September 28 through October 4. The research was conducted in English and Spanish. Among Latino voters backing Democratic House candidates, 77% say control of Congress really matters, up from 58% ahead of the 2022 midterms. The share describing themselves as extremely motivated to vote rose from 41% to 53%.

Forty-five percent of Latino Democratic candidate supporters say they have given the upcoming elections considerable thought, compared with 24% four years ago. Latino voters supporting Republican candidates report lower engagement than their Democratic counterparts.

Latino registered voters now show interest comparable to other registered voters, closing an engagement gap Pew recorded in 2022. Fifty-five percent of Latino registered voters describe their congressional vote as opposition to the president. Just 14% consider it a vote supporting him, while 30% say he is not much of a factor.

That differs substantially from the previous midterms. In 2022, nearly half of Latino voters said President Joe Biden was not a factor in their congressional choice. Trump's approval among Latino registered voters now stands at 24%, down from 38% in February 2025. The decline is steeper within his own 2024 Latino electorate, with 57% approving of his performance, compared with 93% at the beginning of his second term.

Among Latinos who voted for Trump in 2024, 65% still favor the Republican House candidate. Eleven percent support the Democrat, while the remaining 24% prefer another candidate or remain undecided. By comparison, 84% of Latino voters who backed Kamala Harris support their Democratic congressional candidate.

The economy is Latino voters' leading issue, accompanied by increasingly negative assessments of national conditions and greater concern about gasoline costs and unemployment.

Even Latino voters who supported Trump have become more pessimistic. Only 34% rate economic conditions as excellent or good, down from 57% at the start of the year. Their assessments extend beyond household finances.

Seventy percent of Latino registered voters say administration policies have harmed Hispanics, while 12% say they have helped. Sixty-one percent say Hispanics' situation in the United States has worsened over the past year.

The results follow elections in which Republicans narrowed Democrats' longstanding Latino advantage. Democrats won Latino voters by 47 percentage points in the 2018 midterms, but that margin fell to 21 points in 2022. Trump subsequently won nearly half of Latino votes in 2024.

Among registered Latino voters who skipped the 2024 election, Democrats lead Republicans 47% to 18%. But 31% remain unsure whom they would support, leaving a substantial group of potential voters whose preferences are still unsettled.