TUCSON, Ariz. — One group whose vote will leave a mark this election are Latinos.
In Arizona, the Pew Research Centersays nearly 24% of eligible voters are Latino.
Two local Latinos explained how family values drove their decision this election.
Patrick Robles is a young Latino activist who hopes to represent Tucson one day. He's voting for former Vice President Joe Biden.
"[The Biden campaign] clearly outlining policies that will benefit the environment that will benefit, education, that will benefit immigration,” explained Robles.
Robles has been front and center at campaign stops and has even gone door-to-door to push Tucsonans to vote blue.
As a third-generation American, he said his family shaped his views by teaching him the value of hard work and what it meant to overcome adversity.
“We need to believe in a country that is for everybody that we need to believe in a country that is about decency and kindness, and when we don't have that you're going to have certain populations left out like my grandparents were decades ago,” he explained.
Meanwhile, across town it’s a different story, local Latino restaurant owner Jorge Rivas is showing his support for President Trump’s re-election.
"I like his ideas, I like that. He's not your regular politician. I like that he has his big stories out whatever using his mind. That's what he says is like your typical politician that goes around, finding the right word to tell you try to find what you want to hear, and then send that to you," explained Rivas.
He and his wife have been strong supporters of Trump. His wife wrote a song for the President and he wrote a book about his support for him. They were even been shouted out by the President on Twitter.
Rivas was born in El Salvador and didn’t move to the United States until the 1980s — where he began the process of becoming a citizen. He said that experience and his family values shaped his views.
"Having lived in a country where the law doesn't really exist or is only a representation. It is very difficult, extremely difficult not only to have a job, or to have a business or have a safe family means having a safe space to grow a family is almost impossible. So, the same thing could happen here if we're not careful,” said Rivas.
Although Rivas and Robles will be voting differently this November, one thing the two agree on is that everyone is free to have their own beliefs.
