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Latinx voters account for half of all newly eligible voters this election, which will put on display their growing political power. Latinas — who vote at higher rates than Latinx voters overall, who tend to hold an influential role in their families and their communities, and who skew younger than the American electorate — will play a decisive role in the race for the presidency, control of Congress and the fate of state-level abortion policies.
“If Latinos are the X factor in politics and society, Latinas are the X to the second power,” said Stephanie Valencia, who studies Latinx voters at the research firm Equis. “Latinas really do sit at this really important position of power.”
Nowhere will their influence be as palpable as in Arizona and Nevada, where Latinas represent 1 in 5 women voters, and where Latinx voters make up a quarter and a fifth of the electorate, respectively. The path to the White House may well run through these states, which also feature two key Senate races and two ballot measures to guarantee abortion rights in their borders.