More Hispanic Arizonans are voting and owning businesses, a report from the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce says.
Hispanic Arizonans cast 400,000 ballots in the 2012 presidential election, up from 291,000 in 2008.
Since February, the number of Hispanic registered voters in Arizona grew from 625,000 to more than 700,000, the chamber said as it announced the release of DATOS: The State of Arizona’s Hispanic Market.
Additionally, more than 300,000 Arizona Hispanics are eligible to vote, but haven’t registered.
“Latino voters are playing a pivotal role in elections across the country and in Arizona, now a battleground state, which means it’s more important now than ever that elected officials understand the impact our community is having on the economy and every other major aspect of our community,” chamber President and CEO Gonzalo A. de la Melena Jr. said in the news release.
In the Tucson area, one-fourth of registered voters are Hispanic. About one-third of Hispanic voters in Tucson are Democrats, 12 percent are Republicans, and 36 percent are independents or members of another party.
The report also highlighted the rising Hispanic population, and resulting economic clout.
More than 380,000 Tucsonans are Hispanic, accounting for 37 percent of the city’s total population. The report said about 250,000 Tucsonans were Hispanic in 2000.
Statewide, 2.14 million Arizonans are Hispanic, accounting for 31 percent of the population. In 2000, there were 1.3 million Hispanics in Arizona.
Arizona Hispanics saw their purchasing power rise from $14.7 billion in 2000 to $32.4 billion in 2010. The chamber said Arizona Hispanics are expected to have $42.5 billion in purchasing power in 2016.
About 123,000 Arizona businesses are owned by Hispanics, with more than half owned by Hispanic women. In 2007, Arizona Hispanics owned 53,000 businesses.
The report also highlighted the lower uninsured rate among Arizona Hispanics. Since 2013, the uninsured rate fell from 39 percent to 28 percent.
To read the report, go to the chamber’s website or copy and paste this link: http://tucne.ws/ejf
