Gun violence and crime surged past inflation to become the most cited top concern for U.S. Latinos this month, found the latest Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll in partnership with Noticias Telemundo. The generic advantage Democrats hold over Republicans among U.S. Latino adults has dropped since March, but the poll shows that gun safety has become an issue on which Latinos are far more aligned with Democrats, reports Axios. The question is whether Democrats can use gun safety to make up the ground they've lost on the economy. The survey was conducted in mid-June, two weeks after the mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in the mostly Hispanic city of Uvalde, Tx. The findings underscore how deeply that tragedy shook Americans and drove pressure for Congress to act. It also shows how politically potent an issue gun safety could be with Latinos. "Latino Americans are more aligned with Democrats on gun control policies," said Chris Jackson of Ipsos, "but will that translate into electoral support?"
Survey respondents gave Republicans higher marks on economic issues, with 25 percent saying the GOP is stronger while 18 percent said Democrats are stronger. They were divided over which party is better on crime. While 53 percent said people in power don't take crimes against Latino people seriously enough, another 31 percent were unsure. Respondents who said gun violence and crime is among their top three issues doubled in percentage from March to June. Nearly half of survey respondents said they are certain or very likely to vote, marginally down from when they were asked in December. Twenty-nine percent of respondents said they planned to vote for Democratic candidates and 34 percent said they didn't know or would support independents or third parties. "We're seeing Democrats continue to hold an advantage with Latinos over Republicans, but probably not as strong as Democrats would like," Jackson said.