Why NBC News' Tom Llamas Is Focusing on Latino Voters Ahead of the Midterms

Nathan Congleton Tom Llamas

As journalists around the nation prepare for Election Day, one NBC News broadcaster has his eyes laser-focused on how Latino Americans will cast their ballots.

Tom Llamas, host of the eponymous Top Story with Tom Llamas on NBC News NOW, believes Latino voters will prove key in electing the next wave of U.S. leaders, as polling shows a growing number of people in the generally left-leaning voting bloc now open to supporting Republicans who promise to tackle crime and restore the economy.

RELATED: PEOPLE's Exhaustive Guide to the 2022 Midterms: Everything to Know Before Election Night

Polls conducted for NBC News and Telemundo over the past decade reveal a trend of Latino voters steadily abandoning the Democratic Party. In 2012, the Latino American population favored Democrats to Republicans by 42 points; now the lead has shrunk in half, sitting at 21 points. With so many toss-up races in the 2022 midterms, those newly right-leaning Latino voters hold significant power.

Llamas, who will co-lead NBC News NOW's election night coverage, tells PEOPLE about the key midterm races where Latino values will be put to the test — and why his mission to tell Latino stories will continue after Tuesday.

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Nathan Congleton Tom Llamas

You've spent a lot of energy in this election cycle focusing in on the Latino vote. What can this demographic tell us about the larger picture of U.S. politics?

I think the trend we're seeing right now is that Latinos — like the rest of the country — have real concerns about inflation and the economy. We saw that in our NBC News/Telemundo poll. Democratic candidates are still favored by Latino voters, but the GOP has made real inroads.

In a tight election, every little bit counts. Republican efforts to court Latino voters could be the deciding factor in several races. I had a Democratic candidate for the House tell me she thought Democrats were taking Latino voters for granted, and she wasn't trying to hide it. She told me on camera.

What midterms races are you keeping a careful eye on this year?

I traveled to my hometown of Miami to get a better sense of the race in Florida's 27th Congressional District. Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar, a former news anchor, is being challenged by Democrat Annette Taddeo. The district is large and includes neighborhoods like Little Havana, South Miami and Kendall which are nearly 80% Hispanic. (Editor's note: District 27 has flip-flopped between parties in recent years. In 2018, Clinton Cabinet member Donna Shalala defeated Salazar and turned the seat blue; during a rematch between the candidates in 2020, Salazar pulled off an upset win against Shalala and reclaimed the seat for Republicans.)

I'm also looking at the major races in Nevada. The first Latina to serve in the Senate, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, is in a tight race vs. Adam Laxalt. Latino groups on both sides are working hard. This could be a race where Latino voters could make or break a candidate. Nevada is a state hit hard by inflation with many voters in Las Vegas working in the service industry. We know from our NBC News/Telemundo poll that this is a top issue for that community.

You're a key face of NBC News' midterm elections coverage, co-anchoring coverage on election night along with Hallie Jackson on NBC News NOW. What can you tell us about NBC News' midterms coverage and the streaming audience?

I think there is a serious appetite for politics on streaming. I think what Hallie and I are working on with our teams is something special. It will set the tone for one of the biggest nights in politics. It's going to be a fast-paced but comprehensive look at the midterms.

We have a massive team dispatched all over the country and the best analysts giving up-the-minute updates. Hallie is an incredible journalist and woman, and I'm looking forward to teaming up with her for our early coverage.

Let's move away from the midterms a bit. On your show, Top Story with Tom Llamas, you have a segment called "The Americas" that highlights current events in Latin America. Why is this important to you?

As a Cuban American growing up in Miami, my family would watch the news in English but also Spanish to get news out of Latin America. I always thought it was strange that we had to do this — why wouldn't the English language news cover our neighbors to the south, the place where one of the fastest growing groups of Americans originate from?

In Miami, the local news did a very good job of covering the region. But when I lived in New Orleans for college and later New York for work, I noticed a clear void.

As anchor and managing editor of Top Story, I have a real responsibility to help select the stories we cover. I feel it's my duty to cover Latin America. Not because I'm Hispanic, but because I believe a well-informed country is a stronger country. It's time that our audiences understand what's happening not only in the U.K., Russia and China, but also Mexico, Brazil, and El Salvador.

NBC News NOW's Decision 2022 coverage, hosted by Tom Llamas and Hallie Jackson, kicks off at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 8.