MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Republican Party made historic gains among minority voters in the 2024 general election, which included leading with Hispanic voters, according to internal exit polling data shared with Alabama Daily News.
“This is the first cycle that I have seen in the party’s internal polling where we actually led with Hispanic voters in the state of Alabama, and are getting almost double what we were with the Black community six years ago,” Wahl told ADN.
Per the internal data, just over 50% of Hispanic voters in Alabama supported now-President-elect Donald Trump, marking a significant increase when compared to past elections that saw between 25% and 35% Hispanic voters in Alabama support the Republican ticket. The Alabama GOP also made significant gains among Black Alabama voters. During the 2020 and 2022 elections, Black voters voted in support of the Republican Party at rates of 10% and 14%, respectively. In the 2024 election, just over 18% of Black voters supported Trump, per the Alabama GOP’s internal data.
The Alabama GOP’s success this election cycle with minority voters was seen across the country, with Trump capturing 45% of the Hispanic vote, the highest Hispanic vote share for a Republican presidential candidate on record, surpassing the previous record of 44% set by President George Bush in 2004, and an increase of 13 percentage points when compared with 2020.
Detailed data on voter ethnicity and party alignment is not yet available from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Republicans did manage to flip 40 seats in the general election for positions like probate judge, circuit court clerk and county commission and school board seats.
“In an already very red Alabama, we are still gaining ground,” Wahl said. “A lot of these were in rural and minority areas, and included a minority candidate when Fayette County flipped a Democrat-held county commission district there.”
Wahl was referring to Republican Valerie Branyon, who managed to defeat incumbent Fayette County Commissioner John Underwood, a Democrat who made an unsuccessful bid last year to represent Alabama House District 16. The Alabama GOP also picked up seats in a number of minority-majority districts for positions such as probate judge in Hale County, which has a 59% Black population, education board member in Butler County, which has a 56% Black population, and education board member in Escambia County, which has a 54% Black population.
Another fascinating chart. The swing towards Republicans has been across the board -Black, Hispanic, Asian, Male, Female – all except White College Women and 65+ age group people. pic.twitter.com/mXK8ITAA4A
— Sahana Singh (@singhsahana) November 14, 2024
The party’s success this election, Wahl said, was in large part due to its outreach to minority voters in rural areas, something he said he would like to see expanded in future elections.
Nationally, Trump made grounds with Black voters as well, with roughly 3 in 10 Black men under age 45 voting for Trump, nearly double the rate Trump saw in the 2020 election. Pollsters found that young minority voters who supported Trump most frequently cited the state of the economy as their main concern.
The Alabama GOP’s success was attributable to several other factors, Wahl said.
“… First is we ran a very strong voter registration drive in our key districts across the state of Alabama,” he said. “The second thing is we saw a lot of independents going towards the Republican Party this cycle, and a very aggressive campaign operation through direct mail and advertising. And the final one is our outreach to minorities.”
Wahl said that the concerns of minority communities often align with those of the Republican Party, and anticipated the gains to only grow in the future.
“I want these minority groups to know that they are welcome with the Republican Party, they have a home here because we are the party that believes in defending their rights and freedoms,” he said. “We believe in standing up for family values, we have so much in common with both the Hispanic and the Black community.”