Live Poster Session: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/97013322470
Minnah Sheikh
Minnah Sheikh is a sophomore at Wesleyan University majoring in Economics and Government (with a concentration in American Politics) and a minor in Human Rights Advocacy. Originally from Massachusetts, Minnah has worked in MA electoral politics for seven cycles with roles ranging from community engagement fellow to outreach director, for candidates such as Senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. At Wesleyan, she’s a senior writer for the Wesleyan Political Arcadia, editor for the Wesleyan Business Review, an intern for the Office of Admission, and orientation chair for Rho Epsilon Pi.
Abstract: On November 9th, 2022, Politico’s front page headlined the story “The Red Wave that Wasn’t: 5 takeaways from a disappointing night for the GOP.” News outlet after news outlet published stories about the red wave (uptick in Republican support) that failed to crash ashore – citing national trends of Democrats doing better than anticipated in the 2022 midterm elections. However, Florida – an outlier – witnessed a red tsunami. Why? The Hispanic American vote. This project explores the relationship between identifying as Hispanic American and political partisanship. Using data from the 2021 General Social Survey, this research finds that Hispanic Americans are significantly more likely to identify as Democrats in comparison to non-Hispanic Americans. When controlling for first-generation status, Hispanic Americans born inside the US were more likely to identify as Republican and Hispanic Americans born outside the US were more likely to identify as Democrat. These findings underscore the importance for political strategists and campaign staff to reassess practices related to identity politics.
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