FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT:  
comms@latinafutures.org

Latina Futures Issues Statement on Election Results

The Latina Futures 2050 Lab issued the following statement on the 2024 election results: 

“American voters have once again enshrined a MAGA agenda, overwhelming any headwinds from the nation’s multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition that rejected Donald Trump in 2020. This enthusiasm from the majority of white voters for Donald Trump was determinative in each of the seven battleground contests.

​​The 2024 Election reaffirmed the growing polarization taking shape in local communities across this nation. The majority of male voters’ unwillingness to send a woman to the Oval Office stands in stark contrast to the progress other nations have made in supporting women to achieve their full ambition. But to be clear, it was not Latina, Black, or AAPI women voters who shifted control of the U.S. Senate and Oval Office to candidates aligned with the MAGA agenda. Exit polls affirm those voters’ majority support for Vice President Kamala Harris, and analysis in the weeks to come will spotlight how their electoral preferences curbed the magnitude of MAGA control over their bodily autonomy and our democracy.

Despite community-driven mobilization efforts, the lack of institutional party investment and attention to the perspectives of low-propensity voters cannot be overlooked. One thing is clear from these results: transactional campaigning does not resonate with communities that experience deep and unjust social inequalities, often for generations. Authentic conversations and deep ties to community are necessary for robust and informed democratic engagement. 

Yet we also know that a multi-racial coalition of voters worked together to make representational gains in the U.S. Congress, where we saw historic firsts as the Senate added two Black women, with Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester winning a seat in Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks winning in Maryland. Congressman Andy Kim also won his U.S. Senate race in New Jersey, becoming the nation’s first Korean American senator. Arizona is sending their first Latino congressman, Ruben Gallegos, to the U.S. Senate, a state where Latinas made up 21% of all registered women voters. These historic additions to the nation’s premier legislative body reaffirms that voters of color are sophisticated political actors who can coalesce with other voters down ballot to advance their interests and policy needs.  

While the extremists may have been able to capture the national spotlight, the future of America lies in the diverse voters who are pushing back against regressive policies. This is especially true of women and women-of-color voters, who were pivotal in enshrining abortion rights in the majority of states where it appeared on the ballot: Maryland, Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, New York, Montana, and Nevada. Data reaffirms Latina voters’ strong preference for reproductive justice, spotlighting its overwhelming support in Latino communities in Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and New York. The message of this election is clear: youthful, diverse voters cannot be taken for granted. Without meaningful investment to address economic inequities, and due to the historic sidelining of voters of color, particularly women, America risks losing the vital contributions of current and future generations of Latinas.”