A new poll shows that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has jumped into the lead among Hispanics eligible to vote in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary, following her strong performance in last week’s Democratic debate.
The poll, conducted by Spanish-language television network Univision and released Tuesday, showed that Harris was in sixth place before the debate, at 6%, but leapfrogged into first place after the debate rising 16 points to 22%.
The Univision poll is one of the first national polls to show Harris in first place
Former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro also shifted upwards to second place, doubling his support from 9% to 18%. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also rose, from 7% to 9%, but remains in a distant fifth place.
Former vice president Joe Biden fell from first to third place, declining 5 points, from 21% to 16%. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also fell, from 20% to 16%, where he is tied with Biden. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) is in sixth place and fell slightly, from 8% to 7%; South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg fell from 2% to 1%, which puts him in last place.
Castro resonated with Hispanic voters in a variety of ways, the poll suggests:
Regarding the debate, a large portion of respondents, 32 percent, say they see Harris as the winner, while 28 percent say that Castro won. A smaller percentage saw Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as the winners, at 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively. … In terms of immigration, 31 percent think that Castro has the best proposal.
Respondents said that while a candidate’s ability to speak Spanish was a plus, they wanted that to be accompanied by specific proposals. Neither Harris nor Castro spoke Spanish at the debate.
Anecdotally, Breitbart News reported strong turnout at Hispanic voter events for Harris in Nevada earlier this year.
The poll involved 410 Hispanic citizen adults and has a margin of error of 4.8%.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.