As scholars of Latino political behavior, one of the big academic questions is the determinants of partisanship and vote choice amongst Latino voters.  While considered a primarily Democratic constituency, Latino voters appear primed for a possible shift toward Republicans (see Fraga et al 2025). The success that Donald Trump had with young voters and Latino voters in the 2024 election, and the unexpected gains he made with Latino voters in 2020, have raised the question of whether Latino voters, in particular young Latino voters, are on path for an accelerated shift towards the Republican Party.  This should pique the interests of politicians, pundits, and academics alike.  From an academic perspective, however, obtaining survey data with an oversample of target populations, like Latino voters, is extremely difficult and expensive.  

In an environment where resources and funding have become increasingly difficult to access for the social sciences in general and race/ethnic studies specifically, obtaining such a survey sample would be challenging. We sought methods by which to survey Latino populations that would not only provide the sample we needed but could also provide accessible data to cash-strapped junior scholars and graduate students. Recruiting faculty primarily from Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), we solicited content for a convenience sample survey conducive to survey experiments and pilot testing survey questions. We then asked all contributors to then administer the survey to student populations at their institutions, primarily Introduction to American Politics courses since they are more likely to be required by students of all majors.  

We were pleased to see widespread interest in this collaboration, and we were able to administer the survey to approximately 2000 students, including 948 self-identified Latino students. This oversample of young Latino voters provided a sufficient sample to test predictors of partisanship and vote choice among young Latino voters. We were particularly interested in the socio-psychological factors that figured into political decision-making.  In this work, we found that linked fate, generational status, and Spanish language proficiency affected vote choice and partisanship.  Additionally, there were considerable gender differences, with Latinas being more liberal and more likely to vote for Kamala Harris than Latinos. Given the nature of the project, we felt that a journal that examines social psychology and its effects on politics and policy would be ideal for this paper.  Consequently, we decided to submit to an SPSSI journal.  

While this work represents an initial product of our efforts, there is more work to do. Since we have published “Juventud in Revolt”, which was the first publication that resulted from this collaboration, we have formalized this project into the “American West Time-Sharing Survey”.  We have run the survey every semester since Fall of 2024 which have resulted in several working papers at various stages of the peer review process.  Because this survey will be an ongoing data collection effort, we also intend to examine changes in Latino political behavior over time. Additionally, we have expanded our efforts to other universities. We hope that such collaborative efforts will not only yield further insights into Latino political behavior but also provide scholars with opportunities to further their own research agendas in the future.  

Interested in learning more? Check out the full ASAP article: 

Lamb, M., Baker, M. N., & Landgrave, M. (2026). Juventud in revolt? Linked fate, political attitudes, and presidential candidate preferences of young Latinos in the 2024 election.?Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy,?26(1): https://doi.org/10.1111/asap.70058