POLL: Colorado Latino voters favor Dems, dissapprove of ICE collaboration

This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.

DENVER | For the fifth year in a row, Colorado Latinos said in a nonpartisan poll that economic hardships are their top policy concern. 

The Colorado Latino Policy Agenda report for 2025 polled 1,700 registered and non-registered Latino voters across the state between July 10 and Aug. 6 to provide insight on Latino political and social priorities, with heavier sample sizes in rural congressional districts. The project is a collaboration between Voces Unidas and the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. Surveys were conducted in English and Spanish.

The top three issues survey respondents selected at both the state and federal levels related to economic and affordability concerns. At the federal level, 33% of respondents selected high cost of living and inflation as their top concern; 33% selected improving wages and income; and 25% selected lowering health care costs. At the state level, 36% of respondents selected improving wages and income as their top concern; 35% selected high cost of living and inflation; and 26% selected lowering health care costs. 

“Just as we’ve seen over the last several years of polling, economic concerns are the top priority for Latino voters,” Gabriel Sanchez from BSP Research said in a media call previewing the poll results Wednesday. “All three of the top issues when isolated individually are tied to the economy and personal finances, and I think again reflects the strain that a lot of Latinos unfortunately in our communities are continuing to feel economically.” 

Economic concerns are the most consistent trend in the poll’s five years in existence, Sanchez said, and even though the state “has done a lot to try and address rising inflation” and housing costs, the Latino population still sees room for improvement. 

A third of survey respondents each said their financial situation has improved, stayed the same, or worsened over the last year. Sanchez said every year the survey has asked this question, roughly a third of the Latino community “has continued to lose ground financially and indicated things have gotten worse,” and that the gap between those doing well and those struggling economically is growing.

“It’s folks that make under $40,000 a year, have less than a college education that tend to be the folks that are unfortunately, every year, falling further and further behind and not being able to keep up with inflation,” Sanchez said. “I think that sends a strong message that Latinos overall want to see more done to address these financial concerns.”

About a third of the survey respondents are covered by Medicaid, and 40% said they would not be able to afford life saving medication or would skip or delay regular medical visits if they lost health insurance coverage. That dynamic is concerning, Sanchez said, and will be problematic not just for individuals and families, but the entire health care system. Alex Sánchez, president and CEO of Voces Unidas, said Latinos are more likely to be uninsured and to face chronic illness with lower access to health care services, so it is important to monitor how health policy decisions at the national, state and local level affect Latinos’ ability to receive care. 

Respondents had higher approval of Democrats in Colorado and in Congress compared to Republicans as well as President Donald Trump. Of those who think the country is moving in the right direction, 50% of respondents said that is because of Trump, while 66% of those who think the country is moving in the wrong direction blame Trump. 

The poll also found that Latino voters generally have favorable views of statewide elected officials including Attorney General Phil Weiser, Secretary of State Jena Griswold, and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper — all Democrats running for a statewide office in 2026. Hickenlooper has the highest favorability at 52%, followed by Bennet at 49%.Weiser and Griswold both have 43% favorability. 

In Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, which has the largest Latino population in the state, the poll asked about approval of the district’s current representative, Gabe Evans, a Fort Lupton Republican, compared to its first, Yadira Caraveo, a Thornton Democrat. Caraveo had slightly higher favorability in the poll at 53% compared to 44% for Evans. Caraveo is among the Democrats running to unseat Evans in 2026.

Over 400 of those interviewed for the poll live in the 3rd Congressional District, which covers most of the Western Slope, and just under 300 live in the 8th District, which runs along the Front Range north of Denver to Greeley. The district with the third highest participation is the Denver-based 1st Congressional District with 277 participants. 

Immigration-specific questions

The fourth highest concern respondents had at the federal level is immigrant rights and immigration reform. The poll asked specific questions related to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforcement and collaboration. 

The majority of respondents, 66%, said they were against sharing Medicaid data about immigrants with the Trump administration and ICE, compared to 34% in favor. Most respondents, 61%, were also against sharing identifiable data about immigrant children with the Trump administration and ICE, compared to 39% in favor. 

“At the end of the day, Latinos overall oppose local officials collaborating with ICE and the Trump administration, specifically as it pertains to Medicaid data, and obviously our most vulnerable segment of the population: children” Sanchez said.

The vast majority of respondents, 84%, said all law enforcement officers in Colorado should identify themselves, wear body cameras, drive clearly marked vehicles, and treat everyone with dignity and respect. 

The survey also asked if ICE agents should be allowed to stop anyone they suspect of being undocumented, which 62% of respondents opposed and 38% supported. 

The full report will be released to the public on Sept. 23, and the organizations behind the Colorado Latino Policy Agenda are working on a study of how responses have changed over the five years they have conducted the statewide survey.