The midterm elections showed how both parties need to court Hispanic voters and address issues that matter to them, according to several immigration groups.
Stephen Fotopulos, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said that in some races, even a couple thousand votes can make a difference.
“If there’s anything we’ve learned from the last several election cycles, it’s that very important races turn on very few votes and so 2 percent of the electorate, a couple of thousand people, in a House district, will determine who wins,” he said.
“New American voters are at this critical nexus where, in the next several cycles, their votes will determine elections,” he added.
Hispanics are 11.6 million, or 7.9 percent, of all registered voters in the U.S. at last count. But they continue to grow as an essential voting bloc in winning presidential elections, the Immigration Policy Institute reported.