New Survey of Latino Professionals, Ages 18-39, Reveals Shift Toward Democrats, Support for Obama, Guiliani and McCain, and Lack of Influential Latino Leaders on 2008 Campaign

The National Hispanic Institute, the largest Latino youth organization in the nation, has released a new survey of its alumni revealing that young Latino professionals are more likely to vote for a Democratic Presidential candidate in 2008 than those surveyed on prior elections. However, Bill Richardson, the sole Latino candidate in the race, only finished fourth among those who preferred a Democratic candidate.

Maxwell, TX (PRWEB) January 8, 2008 -- The National Hispanic Institute, the largest Latino youth organization in the nation, has released a new survey of its alumni revealing that young Latino professionals are more likely to vote for a Democratic presidential candidate in 2008 than those surveyed on prior elections -- but Latino candidate Bill Richardson only polled fourth among respondents identifying a preference for Democratic candidates, and a majority of respondents could not identify a national Latino leader who could influence their vote.

The survey, conducted in late December 2007, polled a 2 percent sample (ages 18-39) of the 8,000 active members of the National Hispanic Institute's alumni base, comprised of Latino professionals and community leaders. The organization, founded in Austin in 1979, conducts leadership education programs for a select group of high-performing Latino high schools, with the goal of cultivating leaders for the U.S. Latino community.

"The survey shows, ultimately, that there is still a tremendous need for Latino leadership in the United States," said NHI president and founder. "Richardson's poor showing among what should be his core support group seems a reflection of his refusal to speak bluntly about core issues surrounding immigration and the current educational and social conditions for Latino youth. But I find the most troubling finding in the survey to be that a majority of young Latino professionals can't identify a Latino leader who they could look to for an endorsement."

Among the most interesting results of the survey:

    * 79 percent of respondents indicated a preference for a Democratic candidate, as opposed to 16 percent favoring a Republican candidate. Previous NHI surveys revealed a higher percentage favoring Republicans, including peaks of nearly half the respondents during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

    * Among Democratic voters, 39 percent favored Barack Obama, 34 percent favored Hillary Clinton, and 10 percent favored John Edwards. Richardson, at 9 percent, was in fourth place, heading up a second tier of candidates with single-digit percentages.

    * Republican voters were split between Rudy Guiliani and John McCain, each favored by 31 percent of those who identified as preferring a Republican candidate. Ron Paul was third with 18 percent, and Mike Huckabee was fourth with 10 percent. No other Republican, including Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, garnered a double-digit percentage.

    * When asked to identify which issue was most important to the Presidential election, 27 percent identified the War in Iraq, 22 percent identified immigration, and education and the economy tied for third with 18 percent each.

"The growth of the U.S. Latino population should make it a factor in the upcoming Presidential election, but this survey reinforces my concerns that this year's candidates are not yet connecting with Latino voters," Nieto said. "Richardson's showing in particular, both in this survey and in the early state primaries and caucuses, indicates that the so-called 'Latino Sleeping Giant' in the electorate may remain in slumber well past this coming November."

For more information on the NHI and its leadership programming, please visit its website at http://www.nhi-net.org.

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