Hispanics pan Trump in poll

Hispanics hold a resoundingly negative view of Donald Trump, but that perspective hasn’t trickled down to have an impact on the rest of the Republican presidential field. 

{mosads}Trump has a net favorability rating of negative 51 percentage points — the result of a 14 percent favorable rating and a 65 percent unfavorable rating — according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday. That’s more than seven times worse than the next-lowest candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz and former Gov. Rick Perry, both Texas Republicans. They each have a rating of negative 7.

The finding is the latest indication of Trump’s low support among Hispanics after he has made a number of controversial comments about immigrants. The polls suggest that the rest of GOP candidates are not sharing the blame for his statements, but some GOP strategists worry that Trump could hurt the party’s chances of keeping a Senate majority in 2016.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.) posts the best favorability score among Hispanics of his GOP presidential rivals, with a net rating of 11. Bush’s wife is Mexican-American, and he has taken a more moderate position on immigration issues than his rivals have. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) follows Bush, with a net rating of 5. Former New York Gov. George Pataki, businesswoman Carly Fiorina,  retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Gov. Scott Walker are the only other GOP candidates with net positive scores.

Gallup calculates net favorability ratings by subtracting the percentage of people who view a candidate unfavorably from the percentage of people who view him or her favorably.

The polling firm also noted that the numbers released Tuesday were collected before some Hispanic groups began criticizing Bush over his use of the controversial term “anchor baby” to describe people who come to America illegally so that their children can be born American citizens. 

On the other side of the aisle, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton holds a wide lead in favorability among Hispanics. Clinton’s net rating is 40, compared to 5 for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Hispanics have a slightly negative view of former Gov. Martin O’Malley (Md.), according to the poll.

Gallup polled 2,183 Hispanic adults, and the sample has a margin of error of 5 points.