Puerto Rican Voters and Puerto Rico Voters

A recent survey compared stateside Puerto Rican voters with Hispanic voters in the states. The pool for Hispanic voters included Mexican-American voters (the largest subgroup of Hispanic voters in the U.S.), Cuban, and all other Hispanic voters, native or immigrant. Puerto Rican voters in that survey were all stateside voters of Puerto Rican heritage. But what about Puerto Rico voters? A new survey interviewed 800 likely voters in Puerto Rico. The interviews in the new survey were all conducted in Spanish by the firm of McLaughlin & Associates, while the previous survey was bilingual. Is there a difference between Puerto Rican voters and Puerto Rico voters?

Everybody supports statehood

An analysis of the two surveys produced four distinct groups:

• Puerto Rico voters, living in Puerto Rico
• Puerto Rican voters, living in states
• Hispanic voters in general, living in the states
• Hispanic but not Puerto Rican voters in states

As the chart below shows, the majority in all four groups said they approve of statehood. The 32% disapproving in Puerto Rico (the highest figure) would include supporters of the discredited “commonwealth” as well as separatists.

While separatists living in the states have been more visible than those actually on the Island, stateside Puerto Ricans actually showed the highest support for statehood, at 71%. The other three groups had two-thirds majorities approving statehood. This is the same figure Gallup polling has shown among U.S. voters overall.

The chart above shows that other sources have also found majorities for statehood across the nation, though undecided voters were more numerous with other sources. The new survey shows “I don’t know” voters — just 1% among Puerto Rico voters, but as high as 14% among Hispanic voters who are not Puerto Rican.

Bottom line: Puerto Rican voters and Puerto Rico voters alike support statehood.

Statehood is a winning message

We have heard Democratic legislators saying they aren’t sure about supporting statehood because they aren’t sure their Puerto Rican constituents support statehood. The earlier survey makes it clear that they do. What’s more, Puerto Rico statehood is a winning message for candidates running in Hispanic communities, whether in the states or on the Island.

Two thirds of Puerto Rican voters in the states are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports statehood. This is likely to be extremely important during the upcoming midterm elections, since Puerto Rican voters are disproportionately represented in swing states.

Both parties should also be considering what might happen when Puerto Rico becomes a state. If Republicans fear that Puerto Rico could diminish their party, the last thing they should be doing is speaking against statehood. Being remembered as the party that achieved statehood for Puerto Rico would be a winning strategy for either party.

See all the results

The chart below shows a detailed overview of the new survey. Click on the picture to download a PDF which also includes the methodology of the two surveys discussed above.

You can also download the entire presentation of the survey as a PDF file.

And don’t miss our Midterm Action Guide! Ask the candidates you are considering whether they support statehood for Puerto Rico or not.