Gary Johnson Is Quickly Gaining Support In the Latino Community

By Brandon Morse | 1:30 PM on August 15, 2016

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While Trump is making no friends in the Latino community, those who walk away from the Republican party aren’t all going to Hillary Clinton.

According to a poll by Fox News Latino, there’s a good number of latino voters who are leaving the standard Republican and Democrat choices to seek a 3rd option, leading them to Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

And not just in any dismissible number. According to the poll, 16% of Latino voters would vote for Johnson if the election were held today.

This is not to say that Hillary Clinton is necessarily hurting from the loss, as most Latinos are still in her camp. Regardless, Johnson’s presence is causing a dent.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton still holds a commanding lead over both Johnson and Trump, pulling in 59 percent of the Latino vote, according to the poll. But that is lower than it would be if it was a two-candidate race. The poll shows that if Latinos had to choose between Clinton and Trump, the former secretary of state would pull in 66 percent of Latino voters and Trump would get 20 percent.

While the Latino community leaving for Johnson is a reason very similar to many other groups, there is a movement being spearheaded from within the community itself.

At least two prominent Latinos, former Florida Congressman Juan-Carlos Planas and former National Puerto Rican Coalition CEORafael Fantauzzi, have backed Johnson and pledged to throw Latino support behind him. They chair a political action committee called Tercera Opcion, or Third Option, formed last month.

This year, we cannot settle for the lesser of two evils,” Fantauzzi said in a press release announcing the PAC. “The insults from Donald Trump and the double talk from Hillary Clinton are not our only options. Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld are two of the most successful governors in America and they present the best hope to lead our country in the years ahead.”

November is fast approaching, and with Gary Johnson making inroads with various communities, we could see a Libertarian showing that could make history.