WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Hispanic voters, whose support for the Democratic party had been eroding, have shown a fresh surge of support for Democrats one year before the presidential vote, a poll suggested Thursday.
Fifty-seven percent of Hispanic registered voters surveyed by the Pew Hispanic Center described themselves as Democrats, compared to 23 percent who said they are Republican.
That number proved similar to 1999 figures (when 58 percent said they were Democrats compared to 25 percent Republican) and was significantly higher than last year's results of 49 percent Democrat to 28 percent Republican.
The poll indicated that the gap among Hispanic voters had therefore widened to 34 percentage points, compared to 21 percentage points last July.
Nevertheless, Hispanic voters were not overly enthusiastic about the Democrats: asked which party represented their interests, 44 percent said Democrats, eight percent said Republicans but 41 percent saw no difference.
There are around 45 million Hispanics in the United States, but due to the large population of minors among them, the group makes up only nine percent of the electorate.
However, they could potentially have an impact in a number of key states, particularly in four of the six states which US President George W. Bush won with less than five percent of the vote: New Mexico (where 37 percent of the electorate is Hispanic), Florida (14 percent), Nevada and Colorado (12 percent each).
Hispanic Democrats said they favored Hillary Clinton (57 percent) to Barack Obama (15 percent), the only Hispanic candidate Bill Richardson (eight percent), and former senator John Edwards (four percent).
Thirty-five percent of Republican Hispanics preferred former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, with Fred Thompson (13 percent), John McCain (10 percent) and Mitt Romney (four percent) falling behind.
The poll was taken by phone between October 3 and 9 and randomly surveyed 2,003 Hispanics, of whom 843 are registered voters.
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