2013

2014

If the Democratic Party needed any further evidence that their Mexican American voter base matters, then the Midterm Elections of 2014 certainly proved this point well.

Resulting from this year's November 4th elections, the balance of power in U.S. government has now shifted. Republicans have secured control of the Senate for the first time in eight years. As of this writing, with a very small number of races still undecided, the GOP has gained seven seats in the Senate and substantially built on their already existing majority in the House.

Although many 'exit' polls are being cited, a big reason for the Republican's huge landslide victory has less to do with who showed up - and more to do with who didn't. Unfortunately for the Democratics, they've disappointed their Latino voter base which was down 2%. That's all it took.

For the most part, Latinos in the U.S. have been long known to be staunch supporters of the Democratic Party. The only exception to this rule being the Cuban American community that has leaned Republican which might explain an anomoly like Ted Cruz. With regard to the Mexican American community, it's loyalty to the Democratic Party has been extreme and often perceived as nearly automatic or a guaranteed vote. This view is now most certainly being challenged with yesterday's results. More so, the ability to sustain Mexican American loyalty is now being questioned entirely due to many of the developments seen in the community as of late.

Whereas in the past, in many Mexican American homes it would be common to see a photo of President Kennedy alongside that of the Pope. In today's environment, one would be challenged to find a photo of either Obama or the Pope. What should be most distressing to the Democrats is that young voter turnout was also down a whopping 6%. It should be noted that the majority of that number is our Latino youth.