Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency in 2024 was spurred by significant gains among Hispanic voters, young people, and working Americans as the US electorate continued its broader reshuffling. His campaign-populist in nature, as he engaged with voters on promises to protect jobs and lower taxes-drove his wins across the board. Exit polls showed that increasing Hispanic support for Trump was vital to this shift.

Hispanic Support Surges for Trump

As Edison Research pointed out in an exit poll, Trump saw a dramatic 14-point surge in Hispanic support: “46% of self-identified Hispanic voters supported him, up from 32% in 2020.” It was the most robust Hispanic support for any Republican presidential candidate since the 1970s and exceeded even the 44% George W. Bush secured in 2004.

His strength among young Hispanic voters has increased,” said Giancarlo Sopo, a Republican strategist. “These voters will not necessarily vote for any Democratic candidate just because that’s what their parents do.”

Economic concerns seemed to drive support for the incumbent president in many battleground counties.

Many critics need to understand that many Hispanic Americans, who skew younger and more working-class than the national average, were attracted to Trump’s economic policies. About two-thirds of voters believed the US economy was struggling, and 46% said their family’s financial situation was worse now than it was four years ago. Those anxieties favoured Trump, whose entire campaign messaging concerned job security and economic growth.

Economically, Republicans consistently outperform Democrats, especially among Hispanic voters,” said Clarissa Martinez De Castro of UnidosUS. “This has been the case,” she said, “and this election was a referendum on the economy, and that’s how Trump won those last electoral votes.”. In the teen and young adult category, 18-29-year-old voters, Trump gained 7 points from 2020, taking 43%. 

He also ran well with voters without college degrees; exit polls indicate that he got 56% of this group, the largest share for a presidential candidate since 1988, and took it by a 6-point gain over 2020. The voter group, which cuts across racial and ethnic lines and represents over half of the electorate, was his majority. Working-class white Americans voted for Trump in roughly the exact percentages, 66%, which, as it happens, is only 4 points shy of the total in 2020.

Family Values and Social Issues

For the first time, newly naturalised citizen Arturo Laguna, 28, a corporate manager from Arizona, where Trump’s popularity surged, voted for Republicans. Laguna said it was because of the emphasis on conservative values, which have highlighted pro-life stances and religious values as central to his decision, sentiments echoed by many socially conservative Hispanic voters.

In urban areas, the genuine evidence of shifting voting patterns motivated many states to discard traditional party machines and become Democratic.

Trump was making inroads in urban counties that had earlier been key to Democratic success. He won 52% of the vote in Nassau County, on Long Island, east of New York City. “In 25 central counties considered core urban, Harris’s share slipped by five percentage points from Biden’s levels in 2020, a trend which also speaks to a deeper mutation in urban voting behaviour.”.

In 2024, Trump regained the working-class and white votes and expanded his support base significantly among Hispanics and young people, indicating another significant change in the American voter.