African Americans today massively voted for the first candidate they can truly call their own, representing a 13% of the total electorate, followed by Hispanics with 9% of all 120 million Americans that voted on November 4.

The critical state of the economy and the onslaught on the immigrant community galvanized Hispanic voters infusing them with a sense of urgency and determination to participate in this electoral process.

It is remarkable too that of all 18 million eligible Hispanic voters, two thirds of them actually exercised their right to vote, a number that grew 4 million stronger in the last 8 years alone.

Hispanics already represent 20% of the young American population under 18; a larger presence in the electoral landscape is already at sight.  The greater participation this November 4 was of Hispanic women, over 6 million in total, and the Hispanic youth whose ages ranged between 18 and 44 representing 7 million, two thirds of the total Hispanic vote.

Unequivocally Hispanics voted for Obama with 67% of their vote, only second to African Americans who gave 94% of their vote to the first African American President in the history of the United States of America.    In some states the leaning was far greater such as in New Jersey were 78% of Latinos voted for Obama.

While Ronald Reagan famously decided that Hispanics were ‘Republicans at heart’ even if they didn’t know it, this election proved that assertion wrong.   Culturally upholding family values did not create that automatic identity between Republicans and Hispanics.  

The clearest example was provided in California were Hispanics gave 74% of their votes to Obama; yet when it came to the ballot proposals number 8 and 4 banning gay marriage and limiting abortion they massively favored those proposals.

The economic crisis has already translated for Hispanics into job losses, especially in construction, and a marked decline in the volume of money transfers to Latin America, thus their urge to go after proposals that would fix the economy.

Nevertheless the actual persecution against immigrants by means of indiscriminate and brutal raids, detentions and deportations, affected a large majority of Hispanics and their families. 

All said the awakening of Hispanics as an electorate giant is taking place.   It took a phenomenal crisis to compel the electorate as a whole, and a persecution to galvanize Hispanics.  Whether the greater numbers will be met with a greater sense of urgency in future elections is yet to be seen.