Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., talks to reporters aboard his campaign charter en route to San Diego, Calif., Saturday, July 12, 2008. Obama says there's "little doubt" the U.S. economy has moved into a recession, underscoring the need for a second economic stimulus package, steps to shore up the housing market and a long-term energy policy. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Democrat Barack Obama gained lopsided support from Hispanics in Tuesday's election, winning solidly among voters with whom President Bush had made inroads in 2004.
About two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Obama, decisively surpassing the 53 percent who voted for Democrat John Kerry in 2004, exit polls showed. That year Bush enjoyed a high-water mark of GOP support from Hispanics with 44 percent of the vote from the nation's fastest growing ethnic group.
Bush had gotten the support of 35 percent of Hispanics in 2000. Republicans Bob Dole and the first President Bush both received 25 percent or less of the Hispanic vote in their losing presidential bids in 1996 and 1992, respectively.
This year, Republican John McCain had hoped to build on support from Hispanics who share his pro-military, anti-abortion stance. Obama also faced the challenge of converting the nearly two-thirds of Hispanics who had backed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
But like voters across the nation, the economy dominated the concerns of many Hispanics. McCain also found it difficult to shake his biggest liability with these voters: the R after his name.
John Marquez, an Albuquerque, N.M., Democrat, is among those distressed about the economy who supported Obama.
"We don't need another Bush in there," Marquez, 44, said Tuesday.
In New Mexico, for example, Hispanics traditionally back Democrats and this election was no different. A strong majority supported Obama. McCain, for his part, was the favorite of a majority of non-Hispanic white voters.
"We need to get the Republicans out," said Marquez, who's unemployed because of a back problems. "They're driving us under. We've got to put the country back in order."
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2008 Campaign Contributions
mapped by location
| Lobbyist Firms | $74,461 |
| Federal Reserve System | $7,497 |
| Wyeth | $6,789 |
| Actors | $91,300 |
| Bank of America | $100,109 |
Source: (InsiderAdvantage)
| Barack Obama | 34% |
| John Edwards | 33% |
| Hillary Clinton | 32% |
| Joe Biden | --% |
| Bill Richardson | --% |
