Spanish-Language Appeals and Candidate Evaluations in the United States

• In Event: Representation or Pandering? Elected Officials, Candidates, and Parties

Abstract

In efforts to increase support among the Latino electorate, many political candidates have demonstrated their ability to speak Spanish. We argue that candidates, co-ethnic or not, can use Spanish to signal closeness to Latinos, attempting to bridge a gap (in the case of Anglo candidates) or doubling down on their shared identities (in the case of Latino candidates). Existing literature has not yet directly examined whether these efforts are effective. We expand our knowledge of these efforts by using an experimental design to study whether a Latino/White candidate’s Spanish-language appeals increase support among Latinos. Since candidates must worry about isolating non-Hispanic voters, we also examine how White voters react to these Spanish-language appeals. Respondents from a national sample were randomly assigned to hear a brief audio clip of a hypothetical Latino/White candidate’s stump speech. In addition, we vary whether part of the stump speech is spoken in English, poor Spanish, or fluent Spanish. Our results suggest that Latinos prefer candidates who are co-ethnics and can speak Spanish, although this is not the case for a co-ethnic candidate who speaks poor Spanish. Similar to Latinos, White respondents also exhibited higher levels of support for a Latino candidate and a Spanish-speaking candidate. These results are the first to directly test and confirm a language effect for Latinos in the United States among a large national sample.

Authors

• Marques Zarate, Rice University

• Enrique Quezada, Rice University