Hispanics’ Perceptions of Candidates & Voting in the 2018 Texas Senate Election

ABSTRACT This study examines Hispanic voters’ use of campaign information to form beliefs about candidates, evaluate them, and make voting decisions. Accordingly, we test a model of Hispanic voting using survey data (N = 424) collected during the 2018 Texas senate election and featuring Anglo Democrat, Beto O’Rourke, and Hispanic Republican, Ted Cruz. Although pathways leading to voter support differed for the two candidates, results suggest that exposure to political communication guides voter perception of candidate attributes, such as the candidate’s ethnic identity, which in turn can influence vote choice. Taken together, findings highlight the contribution of campaign communication to Hispanic voters’ candidate preference and voting behaviour.