Going Viral: How Influencers Are Influencing the Battle for Young Latino Voters

As Election Day approaches, the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns will take a closer look at which strategies worked — and which failed. During this cycle, voters under 35 made up about 29% of the national electorate, and with turnout across the country razor-thin, campaigns were forced to pay more attention to young voters.

As a result, we've seen candidates perform in ways you might not have expected. Both campaigns used memes and viral moments on social media platforms like TikTok to spread their message. A platform used by almost 50% of Latino adults. A subgroup of young voters that has become particularly important in this election.

Additionally, Vice President Kamala Harris made headlines with her appearance on the popular lifestyle podcast. Call her dad, popular with young women. While former President Donald Trump entered Manosphere Pocket of new media and appeared on the podcasts, Last weekend with Theo Von And The Joe Rogan Experience – both are extremely popular among young men.

It is estimated that approximately 17.5 million Latinos will vote in 2024, and one in five will be voting for the first time ever. “They represent a larger portion of this emerging American electorate,” says Christina Bajarano, a political science professor at Texas Woman's University. “Latinos tend to be a younger population in the U.S., but that younger population is getting old enough for this [vote]“We see that Latino voters tend to be younger than the overall voter population nationwide.” Latinos account for 50% of the overall voter growth this cycle. What makes the young Latino electorate particularly strong is that the most significant increases in voter turnout are expected in battleground states.

As such, both campaigns are seeking to make gains with this growing electorate and have tapped two young Latinos, Hilario Deleon, 23, and Carlos Eduardo Espina, 25, to reach the young Latino electorate.

Hilario Deleon is chairman of the Milwaukee County Republican Party, representing nearly a million people in the battleground state of Wisconsin. But just four years ago, Hilario was a dishwasher before he was hired by the Wisconsin GOP to persuade young men of color to vote for Trump. He says he doesn't care what he has to do to get the vote for Trump, “if I have to run through a war zone, he has my vote.” And I'll try to win over as many other people [to] Join me, friends, family, neighbors, whatever, independents, swing voters, Democrats, anyone and everyone.”

While older Latino voters have voted Democratic in the past, the relationship between young Latinos and the Democratic Party is far from solidified. According to the Brookings Institute, 37% of young Latinos say the Democratic Party and the current president do not care about the Latino community. It's this sense of jadedness among young Latinos that gives the Republican Party — and Hilario — a slight edge. The Trump campaign does not need to appeal particularly to young Latino voters, since they have a reliable base of older white voters without college degrees. So Hilario just needs to find the right people, the ones like him who are drawn to the party because of Trump.

On the Democratic side, the campaign is working with 25-year-old Carlos Eduardo Espina. He is an immigrant rights activist who recently graduated from law school and has a combined 14 million followers across his social media platforms. “I think that's the most important thing. You know, you always have to provide some kind of value or benefit to the user. And I think that’s what attracts people,” says Carlos.

RenéeDisResta, author of “Invisible Rulers” and former research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, tells us that political influencers emerged when “political campaigns realized that the same kind of persuasive skills that could help someone decide to buy a pair of shoes , could be used to help someone decide to vote for a particular candidate.” Renée doesn’t see a future where influencers aren’t involved in campaigns.

Back in February, when Biden was still the Democratic nominee, Carlos met with the White House digital communications team, and in August he was one of five social media influencers to secure a key speaking spot at the Democratic National Convention, where he supported Harris for president. Carlos is convinced that influencers like him are making a difference, but he's not so sure if young people will get involved and vote.

Time will tell whether Hilario or Carlos have made any changes to the young Latino vote, where even a small population can influence the balance of power. Until then we'll wait.

This story is part of our special election coverage: The Latino Factor: How We Vote.

Featured artwork by Monica Morales-Garcia.