Activist: GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump will not win Hispanic vote in Arizona

PHOENIX — Even though Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won the Latino vote in the Nevada caucus on Tuesday, Hispanic leaders in Arizona said they believe he will fall in the state’s presidential primary.

Petra Falcon, a Latino and immigrant rights activist with Promise Arizona, said she believes Trump’s momentum will come to an abrupt halt in Arizona.

“We can’t allow somebody who is using fear tactics and tactics of division to drive a national agenda to select a president,” Falcon said.

Approximately 45 percent of Republican Hispanic voters in the Nevada caucus voted for Trump, but the overall turnout among that demographic is typically low.

Both Republican and Democratic Latino voters in Arizona are tired of the anti-Hispanic rhetoric, according to Falcon, who said Trump will not be welcomed by Arizona’s expansive Latino population.

“We need to vote in favor of why we are a great nation, why we have a Constitution that we all follow,” she said. “He is just breaking all sorts of barriers in terms of our democracy.”

Since his first and only loss in the Iowa caucus, Trump has swept primaries in both New Hampshire and South Carolina. The billionaire-turned-politician is also favored to win the majority of Super Tuesday states on March 1.

After his sweeping win in Nevada, former Arizona Legislator Chris Herstam said the Republican party might have to get used to the idea of the billionaire being its nominee.

Arizona’s presidential primary will take place on March 22.