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July 30, 2026 / 3:03 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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CBS News has learned that four of the nation's largest Latino civic organizations — UnidosUS, the LULAC Institute, Mi Familia en Acción and Latino Victory Foundation — are joining forces for the first time, combining their voter outreach operations under a single strategy ahead of the crucial 2026 midterms.The coalition is aiming to connect with more than 5 million Latino voters, register 250,000 new voters, and lift Latino voter turnout at least 5% by 2028 — an effort organizers call the largest coordinated, nonpartisan Latino voter engagement campaign in recent history.The launch reflects the growing weight of the Latino vote at a moment when control of Congress could again hinge on razor-thin margins. More than 36 million Latinos are now eligible to vote — the nation's second-largest voting bloc and its fastest-growing electorate. The coalition's biggest investments will go to battleground and fast-growing states: Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico and California, which will have some of the most competitive House and Senate races in the country.Republicans, meanwhile, are working to defend the gains they made with Latino voters in 2024, when Trump won 48% of the Latino vote nationally — up 12 points from 2020. LIBRE Action, part of the center-right Koch network, has already begun campaigning for GOP Senate candidates in Ohio and North Carolina and gubernatorial candidates in Florida and Wisconsin. But there are signs that support is softening. Recent polls show most Latinos disapprove of the administration's handling of the cost of living issues and immigration enforcement. House Republicans — including Conference Chair Lisa McClain, who toured South Florida promoting the GOP's economic agenda to Hispanic communities — are pushing back against the idea that Latino voters are a single-issue bloc and argue that the GOP has better economic policies that will help Latino small businesses.
