Exit polls show Trump receiving nearly 30 percent of Hispanic vote

PHOENIX — Exit polling conducted around the United States shows President-elect Donald Trump receiving 29 percent of the Latino vote.

The polling was conducted by Edison Research. That number is about the same as John McCain and Mitt Romney received when they ran for president. That number comes as a surprise to Latino Decisions, a group that polls Hispanic voters across the country. In fact, the group doesn’t believe the number is accurate.

“They’re looking for precincts that are representative of the state as a whole, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to be representative of a particular demographic,” said David Damore, senior analyst with Latino Decisions. “Exit polls will pull in among Latino voters: English-dominant Latinos, those who tend to be higher educated and [have a] higher socioeconomic standing.”

The exit polls showed Hillary Clinton winning 65 percent of the Latino vote. Latino Decisions predicted she would win the Hispanic vote 79 percent to 18 percent.

“We’re seeking to try and get a representative sample of Latino voters in an entire state,” Damore said. “We’re not just focusing on particular precincts like the exit polls.”

Earl de Berge, who works on the Rocky Mountain Poll, said he was not surprised by the exit polls showing nearly 30 percent of Hispanic support for Trump.

“We’ve always seen a very strong conservative element amongst Latino voters, especially older Latinos and women,” de Berge said.

He said Trump’s rhetoric likely drove Hispanic voters away, particularly younger voters. Still, Latinos are very inclined to be independent in their way of thinking.

“If you look at the Latino vote as not a solid, monolithic type of thing, but as made up of many different segments, it makes it a little easier to understand,” de Berge said.