Hispanic Vote Delivers for Bush – New Hispanic Voter Paradigms Usher in New Era.

The Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute, a non-profit advocacy organization, commissioned a poll October 29th — before the election — forecasting historic numbers of Hispanic voter support for President Bush. The poll found Hispanic voters split 44% for Kerry and 42% for Bush.

Manuel Lujan, Chairman of the Hispanic Alliance for Progress states that “The Hispanic constituency delivered pivotal votes especially in New Mexico and Florida that helped secure the President’s re-election. We believe that Hispanics are voting on their value systems and are steadily moving towards more conservative leaning public policies.”

Michael McKenna, President of MWR Strategies, and pollster for the organization estimated that in New Mexico where Hispanics constitute 32% of the Hispanic population, 44% of Hispanics voted for Bush, and in Florida with a 15% Hispanic population, a record 56% of Hispanics voted for Bush, also buoyed by the candidacy of Mel Martinez.

He also noted that the 59% of Hispanics in Texas and the 35% in Ohio voting for President Bush indicate that this election has big implications for future Hispanic outreach. “Organizations such as the Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute will fill the much needed role of further developing how these new attitudes translate into advocacy models for this electorate.” The election results also emphasized the need for opinion researchers and others in the public policy arena to understand the new realities of the Hispanic constituency, and how these new realities should usher in an era of opportunity for engaging ethnic communities.

To view the full poll please visit http://www.HAProgressInstitute.org