Protestant Hispanic Voters and the GOP

A recent Gallup poll based on interviews with more than 28,600 Hispanics in the United States found that a slight majority, 54%, are Catholic, while 28% are Protestant. Three percent belong to another religion, and the rest of the respondents cited no religion or declined to provide an answer. Among the Protestant Hispanics, 60% say they are very religious, meaning religion is an important part of their daily life and they attend religious services every week or almost every week. But only 43% of Hispanic Catholics are very religious, and 18% are not religious, meaning religion is not an important part of their daily life and they seldom or never attend services. Among Protestants, only 11% are not religious. The remainder of those polled are moderately religious, meaning they do not attend services regularly but consider religion important, or attend services but do not consider religion important to them. This is an interesting demographic profile because Hispanics in the United States are generally considered to be, and are treated as, a solidly Catholic Democrat-leaning voting bloc. This Gallup poll shows, however, that a surprising number of Hispanic Americans are in fact Protestant and they are significantly more religious than their Catholic counterparts. This difference in the importance of religion in the lives of Protestant and Catholic Hispanics is even more pronounced among younger Hispanics -- 52% of Protestant Hispanics ages 18 to 29 say they are very religious, compared to 33% of Hispanic Catholics in that age bracket. Gallup also found that less than half of Hispanics ages 18 to 29 are Catholic, 47% compared to 61% of those 65 and older. “A majority of Hispanics in America continue to identify themselves as Catholic, although the Catholic percentage among Hispanics appears to be decreasing and the youngest Hispanics today are less likely to be Catholic than those who are older,” according to Gallup's commentary. “These patterns suggest the potential for an increase in the relative or proportionate number of Protestant Hispanics in the years ahead. If this does happen, and given that Protestant Hispanics are considerably more religious than Catholic Hispanics, this could lead to a higher average level of Hispanic religiosity in future years.” ~~~~~ But, dear readers, the Gallup poll may also support another set of conclusions. One could actually treat the 28% of Hispanic Americans as an entirely different voting bloc, one more likely to be conservative concerning social issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage and other family-focused issues. So, Protestant Hispanics could be just the sort of voters who tend to gravitate toward conservative political opinions, including small government, low taxes, maximum individual liberties and less welfarism. In other words - Protestant Hispanics could be a voting bloc naturally inclined to vote Republican. While I support the GOP effort to find ways to reach out to the American Hispanic Catholic mainstream, it would be worthwhile to reach out separately and immediately to the 28% of Hispanic Americans who are Protestant. Bringing them into the Republican Party just might be the best way to reach out to their Hispanic Catholic counterparts. After all, the two groups must share family and business ties that bring them together often. What better way to reach out to Hispanic Catholic voters than through their Protestant, and Republican, friends and families.