Reinette LeJeune

In August 2022, Mi Familia Vota and UnidosUS teamed up to conduct a poll on what issues Latino voters in Arizona are most concerned about, and what they hope their elected officials will soon address. Carolina Rodriguez-Greer, the Arizona State Director with Mi Familia Vota, expressed her agreement with the results, telling ABC15, “Its confirmed what a lot of us have been saying for years now. I hope this serves as a wake-up call for those who had Latinos pinned under one category or perhaps thinking that Latinos in Arizona are some sort of monolith,” adding that the poll is more than just some simple reflection of what Latino voters hold important. 

According to the poll, five key issues resonated far more than any others. 49 percent of respondents saw inflation and the rising cost of living as the most important issue, with 34 percent naming crime and violence as their second. 27 percent saw jobs and the economy as their primary concern, with 24 percent concerned about dwindling access to abortion care, and 23 percent expressing the need for more affordable housing opportunities and lower rent. “We’re real humans that care about issues like inflation and whether or not we can afford to give our families a good life,” said Rodriguez-Greer, who was also surprised to see the majority of Latino voters wanting abortion to remain legal, “80% believe that their personal belief shouldn’t dictate what people can do to their bodies,” she said.

Mi Familia Vota and UnidosUS released a joint statement on the poll, stating, “The poll was released as part of a multi-state, multi-year partnership between UnidosUS and Mi Familia Vota, which represents the most powerful Latino civic engagement and democracy operation in the country. In 2022, UnidosUS and Mi Familia Vota will execute an extensive, $15 million civic engagement effort working with Hispanic voters in eight states: Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Among other elements, this year’s campaign will include:

• Registering over 100,000 voters.  
• Reaching out to a universe of nearly 2 million voters we connected with in 2020, with a specific focus on preventing voter drop-off from 2020.  
• Providing research and data on the perspectives and priorities of Hispanic voters.  
• Hosting candidate forums in multiple states with high profile statewide elections.  
• Providing voters with information on policy issues and voting access.  
• Significantly, the long-term partnership aims to break the boom-and-bust cycle of traditional electoral engagement, building sustained participation ecosystems that connect electoral engagement, policy advocacy, and community services, recognizing and building upon existing community assets and infrastructure. The two organizations will strengthen the connective tissue among those tracks between now and 2024.”

The poll also showed that more than 80 percent of Latino voters polled said they were likely to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, something Rodriguez-Greer is ecstatic to see and one she cited as making the Latino vote a decisive one for the state. “It’s really encouraging to see how many Latinos in Arizona plan to vote,” she said, adding, “The Latino voter in Arizona is a lot more aware, a lot more engaged, and absolutely understands the power of their vote.”