Latino Gen Z voters prepare to make an impact in 2024 election

CHICAGO - When America goes to the polls this election year, there is expected to be a large group of young voters casting their votes for the first time—and many of them will be Latino.

Since the last presidential election, 4.1 million Latinos have turned 18, making Latino voters the second-largest group and the largest ethnic voting bloc for the first time in history.

FOX 32’s Sylvia Perez sat down with a group of young voters to find out what issues matter to them and how they feel about the upcoming presidential election. These three college students from the University of Illinois at Chicago—Margarita Arango, Jair Alvarez, and Jason Campos—are part of Generation Z, a group often described as glued to their smartphones and politically disengaged. However, that is not the case here. So, what is most important to them this election?

"Getting our voices heard and out there right. I mean, there’s always talk about this immense untapped power that the Latino community has," said Campos, a first-time voter. "The power behind our community isn’t just talk."

These politically active leaders on their college campus feel that they are not being represented.

"I’d like to see more of a shift to actually prioritizing what the American people want, spending our tax dollars on things that we want it to go to, not genocides, not troops, like I want it to be spent on reinvesting into our communities," said Arango, who is also a first-time voter.

U.S. military involvement, the economy, climate change, and women’s reproductive rights are all top concerns. But they also question how seriously the candidates are taking their roles, with some comparing the last presidential debate to a sporting event. Fox 32 caught up with the group after the vice presidential debate.

"The initial debate, the presidential debate was just very hectic. And this past debate last night was a lot more organized. And I feel like there should be more like that because it felt more serious. And I feel like we need to have a level of seriousness surrounding this because it matters more than anything," Campos said.

As Latinos, they also have a personal connection to immigration.

"Immigration reform is one of my priorities, and again, I also try not to be a one-policy voter, and because of that, it’s hard, right? However, because of the weight that I think it carries to our community, immigration policy has everything to do with this election," Campos said.

"There’s a lot of conversations going around mass deportations. For example, a lot of our family members are undocumented, right? So if we start appealing to emotion here and start to realize what this America can lead to—your parent being deported or your family members being deported—then that’s when you start to wake up like, okay, I now have a responsibility not only for myself and my nation but to protect family members," added Alvarez, who is a voting for the second time.

So, with all that, who will they be casting their votes for come November?

"I’m leaning towards voting third party, which is something that I’ve never considered before," Arango said. "I don’t feel like either of them have earned my vote yet."

"When it comes to asking us what kind of president we want, we don’t know yet because it’s challenging," Alvarez said. "I think it might come to the last mark, that day right before the election."

One thing is for certain: the 2024 Latino vote will be decisive in many races, not just the presidential one. Especially in key swing states where Latinos live in large numbers, Latinos—the largest minority in the country—have the power to influence the outcome of this race and shape the future. These Gen Z voters are committed to helping lead that charge.