In the wake of the highly anticipated 2024 presidential election, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has launched a new outreach effort to appeal to Latino voters—and it already shows promise of gaining enough support to steal crucial votes from Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
Kennedy has taken inspiration from Latino outreach campaigns conducted by his uncle, former president John F. Kennedy, during the 1960 presidential election. This historic initiative featured clubs set up by the late president that sought to stimulate the civil rights efforts of World War II Mexican American veterans.
With the help of the clubs, which served as a means of registering voters and managing poll taxes, JFK won 90% of Latino votes, making 1960 the first election that was significantly influenced by that demographic. On March 30, the former president’s nephew launched a similar campaign, including advertisements and social media accounts in Spanish.
Cómo Veo El Estado De Nuestra Unión! #VivaKennedy #Kennedy2024 🇺🇸🗳️ pic.twitter.com/CPVELfjcEc
— Viva Kennedy 24 (@VivaKennedy2024) March 14, 2024
The launch of Viva Kennedy 24 came weeks after a poll from the Democratic group Equis Research showed significant support for Kennedy in key states.
The unreported poll, which was conducted in February, surveyed 2,010 registered Latino voters and found many in at least 12 battleground states—including Arizona and Nevada—supported the independent candidate. The surprising support holds the potential to wreck President Biden’s previously dominated support from Latinos, who backed him nearly 60% in the 2020 election.
The poll showed that Kennedy has 17% Latino support in Arizona and 21% in Nevada. Primarily stealing Biden’s supporters, the results ended up revealing 41% of Latino support for GOP candidate Donald Trump while the sitting president trailed at 34%. While the next several months could considerably change the polling landscape, if Kennedy maintains a similar percentage of support from Latinos come November, it would greatly impact Democratic victories in key states.
Specifically, Arizona and Nevada would most likely be lost to the Left as sizable portions of the Hispanic population side with Kennedy instead of Biden. Meanwhile, Trump captured support from Latinos in the Southern United States during his failed attempt to get into the White House in 2020. That election also found notable Hispanic support for the former president in other parts of the country, including some areas in California and New Jersey.
Even with secured Democratic support in the Southwest, however, the Left could suffer major losses across the country if Arizona, Nevada and others are claimed by Trump due to support for Kennedy that splits the votes.
According to a new poll from the Wall Street Journal, Trump is currently leading in Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, six of the seven swing states. Biden is still ahead in Wisconsin.
