Latinos stood up on Super Tuesday

(image by myjon via Flickr)

Latinos stood up on Super Tuesday, mostly to vote for Hillary Clinton. According to various exit polls, six out of ten Latino voters nationwide voted for Clinton, helping her win delegates in key states.

The New York senator received a whopping 70 percent of the Latino vote in California, where Hispanics turned out to vote in record numbers while African-American participation dropped.

According to one of Clinton's many influential Hispanic backers in California, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, early voters may also have tipped the balance for the former first lady since her opponent, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, only recently picked up important endorsements in the nation's most populous state.

Clinton also won the majority of Latino votes in other states with high numbers of Latino voters like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

In Arizona, where more than a third of the population is Hispanic, the African-American Obama picked up a higher than expected 40 percent of the Latino vote. Clinton also had the backing of most Latinos in New Mexico, where the current governor, Mexican-American Bill Richardson, picked up five percent of the vote despite having withdrawn from the race a month prior.

The next big Democratic contest is in Texas, where once again Latinos could play a decisive role in determining who will be the Democratic presidential nominee.

On the Republican side, John McCain, a strong proponent of last year's immigration reform bill, picked up support from nearly 4 out of 10 Latino Republicans.

In his home state of Arizona, Senator McCain earned even more support, racking up a stunning 70 percent of the Latino vote. In California and his home state, McCain was most popular among Republicans who believe in a path to citizenship and temporary worker programs, according to CNN. In the same contests, Mitt Romney, McCain's chief opponent, earned most of his votes from those who believe undocumented immigrants should be deported.

Barring any major upsets, John McCain is the favorite to win the Republican nomination, a likelihood that has disappointed influential conservatives like talk show host Rush Limbaugh and evangelical leader James Dobson. Both reject McCain for his views on taxes, campaign finance reform and, importantly, immigration.

Some conservatives have taken to calling the senator "Juan McCain," using a spanish name to denote their distaste for his moderate stance on immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border.