SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–H Code, the only advertising entity reaching the U.S. Hispanic market at scale digitally, today released findings of its inaugural political survey, highlighting the candidates, issues, and threats that matter most to the U.S. Hispanic audience. While today’s political landscape is more turbulent than ever, H Code surveyed over 1,300 English and Spanish-speaking Hispanic respondents to better understand their political beliefs and what results we may see in the 2020 United States presidential primary and general elections.

“Political advertising campaigns and the candidates behind them need to focus more on reaching the Hispanic audience year-round, not only every four years or during an election cycle when it’s time to win a vote,” said Parker Morse, CEO and Founder of H Code. “For politicians and brands alike, it’s important to understand and empathize with this influential demographic, and for your messages to resonate, they must be authentic, real, and relatable.”

Parties and Candidates

More than half of U.S. Hispanics (54%) identify as Democrats while nearly one-third (23%) don’t identify with any party. Only 14 percent identify as Republican. The study also confirmed there is no single front runner among this demographic. Biden remains the leader when looking at female respondents (21%), but Bernie Sanders leads among men (16%) as the top choice. The next most popular candidates among U.S. Hispanics included:

• Bernie Sanders: 17%
• Cory Booker (who withdrew from the race): 13%
• Donald Trump: 12%

When it comes to what characteristics are most important for candidates to embody, honesty (50%), determination (41%), intelligence (41%), communication (40%), and integrity (40%) top the list. How do they feel about the current President? 78 percent agreed with the decision to impeach Trump and the same percent support removing him from office.

Issues and Threats

There are several important issues swirling around the nation and being discussed around the water cooler, but what really keeps people up at night? According to these findings, the top five most important political issues for U.S. Hispanics include: health care (50%), the environment (41%), the economy/jobs (27%), education (24%), and immigration (22%). And the biggest threats to America included terrorism (17%), the economy/lack of jobs (17%), gun violence (16%), and illegal immigration (16%).

The data also found strong feelings about specific controversial topics, including taxes, gun control, and environmental issues. The majority of Hispanics surveyed believe:

• The federal government should increase funding of health care for low income individuals (Medicaid): 76%
• The U.S. should raise taxes on the rich: 79%
• The government should raise the minimum wage: 84%
• There should be more restrictions on the current process of purchasing guns: 85%
• The U.S. should accept refugees from other countries: 77%
• The government should increase environmental regulations to prevent climate change: 89%

However, this demographic was more split on social causes:

• 68 percent are in favor of legalizing marijuana
• 60 percent are pro-choice
  • 53% of men are pro-choice, compared to 48% of women
• 74 percent support the legalization of same-sex marriage

H Code provides brands the opportunity to target the influential Hispanic market through insight-driven advertising campaigns. To learn more, visit www.hcodemedia.com.

Methodology

These stats were produced by H Code and uses data collected from December 20-25, 2019. The survey had 1,307 Hispanic respondents, both English- and Spanish-speaking, and is representative of all main geographical areas of the United States.

About H Code

Founded in 2015, H Code is the largest Hispanic digital media company in the U.S. The company was formed to better connect brands and advertisers with U.S. Hispanics online across all channels. It reaches this coveted audience at scale through digital and integrated campaigns that bring together targetable data, exclusive inventory, impactful creative, branded content, and more. Through H Code, brands can more effectively reach and influence Hispanics than with any other partner in the Hispanic market. Key clients include Disney Theatrical, Toyota, General Mills, Target, Walmart, Delta Air Lines, Chase, Kaiser Permanente, Clorox, Sprint, and USPS.