More Black and Latino voters are supporting the Republican Party than ever before, according to the latest Wall Street Journal poll.
About 17 percent of Black voters said they would pick a Republican to represent them in Congress, the late October poll shows, which is up from the 8 percent of Black voters who voted for a GOP candidate in the 2018 midterms.
The poll also showed Democrats with a slim, 5-point advantage over Republicans among Latino voters, down from an 11-point lead in August.
With inflation and the economy a top concern for voters headed into Election Day, Republicans are expected to take over the House, while the Senate is considered a toss-up.
Republicans have made significant inroads with Latino voters. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll last month showed the lead Democrats once held with Latino voters has dwindled by several points since 2016.
Former President Trump at a rally in Florida on Sunday said the GOP was “setting records” with Latino voters, despite his divisive immigration policies.
“Everybody said, ‘Oh, he’s going to hurt himself with Hispanics.’ Actually, it turned out to be the opposite,” Trump said at the rally.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) last month said that Democrats have “never tried” with Latino voters, citing the lack of legislative reform on immigration in Congress.
Black voters, who still overwhelmingly support Democrats, were crucial to President Biden’s election in 2020 and are particularly powerful in Georgia, where progressive groups have focused much of their turn-out-the-vote efforts.
Stacey Abrams, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has called concerns that the party is losing support from Black voters a “manufactured crisis.”
The Wall Street Journal poll was conducted from Oct. 22-26 among 1,500 people. Among 180 polled Black voters, the margin of error is 7.3 percentage points. Among 400 Latino voters, the margin of error is 4.9 percentage points.