As worsening economic conditions top the list of concerns for Colorado’s Latino voters for the sixth consecutive year, many are losing confidence in the state’s direction.

Published Tuesday, key findings from the sixth annual Colorado Latino Policy Agenda survey reveal that a growing percentage of the state’s registered voters who identify as Latino blame President Donald Trump for growing financial struggles and heightened fears surrounding immigration enforcement — two of the priority issues identified by over 1,600 respondents.

“For the first time since we began this project, more Latinos believe Colorado is moving in the wrong direction than the right direction. This is concerning,” said Alex Sanchez, president and CEO of Voces Unidas. “State leaders should take that seriously. Our community is telling them that what they’re doing is not enough.”

Voces Unidas launched the poll in 2021 with the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. This year, 46% of Latino voters said they feel Colorado is moving in the wrong direction compared to 34% in 2025. Forty percent feel Colorado is moving in a positive direction, and 15% are unsure.

A 66% majority said they feel the country is also moving in the wrong direction, and 75% said Trump is to blame, up by almost 10 percentage points from last year.

“When you see numbers jump over 10% in one year — because keep in mind, this is just over a matter of months — that’s a pretty statistically significant shift,” said Gabe Sanchez, vice president of research at BSP Research.

With Latino voters representing the second-largest and second-fastest growing ethnic voting bloc in the state, advocates say these concerns have gone unaddressed for too long.

Economic, health care concerns continue to dominate polls

The survey data was collected between July 1 and Aug. 11 and oversamples rural regions like the Western Slope to ensure that comparisons can be made across the state’s full population.

Across the board, Latino voters identified the economy and personal finances as the top issues they want Congress and the president to address. Roughly 40% of respondents in western Colorado said improving wages and addressing rising cost of living and inflation were their top concerns, while 26% said they wanted to see lower costs for healthcare and housing.

Affordability issues also dominated the 2025 survey, in which an almost equal percentage of respondents said their financial situation had improved, stayed the same or worsened over the past year. In the 2026 survey, however, 43% said their financial situation had gotten worse — an increase of 10 percentage points from the year prior and the highest percentage since 2022. 

Likewise, healthcare has consistently ranked as a top concern by Latino voters. Roughly 1 in 4 Latino voters said their health has worsened over the past year, yet that same percentage has skipped or delayed doctor visits over affordability concerns.

“Year after year, we’ve seen a direct correlation between economic health and physical and mental health, that we can no longer afford to ignore,” said Dusti Gurule, president and CEO of the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, one of the organizations leading the Colorado Latino Agenda. “We’re urging our elected leaders to pay attention to all of the data that we have been illustrating over the last six years, and do something to end this downward spiral.”

“When our families are denied the ability to stay healthy, our entire state suffers,” Gurule added.

While affordability remained the No. 1 concern for western Colorado voters both federally and locally, they ranked education significantly higher in their list of priorities than the rest of the state, with roughly 18% of respondents identifying it as a top issue compared to 10% overall.

Recent achievement data published by the Colorado Department of Education shows longstanding gaps for Hispanic students, which is often amplified in rural school districts. In response, 54% of Latino voters in western Colorado said they would be more likely to support a local school tax increase if the ballot language clearly included funding to close achievement gaps and accelerate learning for Latino students.

The survey results also indicate that immigration policy has become an increasingly urgent issue for the Latino community, with strong support for policies that provide separation between state agencies and federal immigration enforcement. A majority of respondents, 77%, said they would support allowing Colorado residents to sue ICE agents for causing harm to themselves or their property during immigration enforcement actions, in addition to 60% who oppose allowing the Colorado governor to share the personal information of immigrants with ICE.

Today, 4 in 10 respondents say they know someone who has been deported.

“This year, that economic struggle is being made worse by what’s happening in our streets, in our communities, the increasingly hostile attacks on immigrant families by a very unpopular president and his administration,” Alex Sanchez said. “The message this year on our policy agenda is not complicated. Latino families want economic security. We want dignity. We want our families protected, and more importantly, we want leaders who are willing to fight for those things.”

Latino voters show mixed support for Colorado lawmakers as outreach lags

Although the survey showed that Latino voters’ support for Democrats in Colorado (60%) is higher than support for Republicans (37%), opinions are mixed regarding some state politicians. Roughly 51% of Latino voters said they approve of Gov. Jared Polis. The percentage was notably higher for voters in western Colorado — around 63%. Attorney General Phil Weiser, the Democratic candidate for governor, received slightly less support (45%).

“One thing should be crystal clear from six years’ worth of data: Latino families have named what we need from our government. We want wages that keep up with the cost of living. We want housing and healthcare we can actually afford. We want the opportunity to work hard and build a better life for our families,” Alex Sanchez said. “And yet, year after year … we continue to hear the same concerns from Latinas and Latinos in every corner of the state. That tells me that the problem is not the lack of information. The problem is the lack of action by those in power who can do something about it.”

One of the most important takeaways of the survey, Gabe Sanchez said, is the apparent lack of outreach from candidates and political parties to the Latino community. Most respondents said they receive information about politics from their friends and family. Only 1 in 5 have heard directly from a representative or candidate running for office.

“One of the most powerful things that gets people interested in voting and participating in civics is being contacted,” Gabe Sanchez said. “We’re still seeing just over 4 in 10 Latino registered voters … saying nobody has reached out to them; not the Democrats, not the Republicans. … Far too many Latinos probably perceive that their vote doesn’t matter if nobody’s reaching out to them to get their opinions and attitudes.”

The full 2026 Colorado Latino Policy Agenda report will be published in late September.