By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles, Financial Times

A new generation of Latino voters from Nevada to Florida flocked to Barack Obama on Tuesday, overturning assumptions about their willingness to back a black candidate and creating a significant challenge for future Republican leaders.

In battleground states Latinos came out in force for Mr Obama. In Florida, new Mexican and Colombian voters also backed the Democratic candidate, overwhelming the state’s traditionally right-leaning Cuban American electorate.

“The exit polls showed that Latino support for Obama in Nevada was 75 per cent, which is pretty remarkable,” said Kenneth Fernandez, assistant professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The high level of support nationwide was a reaction against Republican economic policies, said Josh Norek, deputy director of Voto Latino, a nonpartisan organisation aimed at young Latino voters.

“Latinos have borne the brunt of the economic downturn,” he said. “Many work in construction and when that industry came to a halt, they were all affected. A lot of people who were not politically engaged went to the polls this time.”

Mr Obama enjoyed overwhelming support from young Latino voters, with 76 per cent of those aged 18-29 backing the Democratic party candidate across the US, according to CNN exit polls.

Young Latino voters also make up one of the fastest growing voter blocs so harnessing their support is likely to be critical to deciding future elections: about 12 per cent of the US electorate is Latino but 18 per cent of young voters come from a Latino background.

Early voting helped the record turn-out of Latino voters, particularly in Nevada, where polls opened in supermarkets and post offices in the week before the election.

As much as 40 per cent of votes cast in Nevada and Colorado were cast early, said Mr Norek. “The Latino mom with her three kids in tow would happen to walk past a polling place and would be able to cast her vote.”

Mr Obama also won support from Latinos that have recently gained US citizenship. “We saw young Latino voters going to the polls with their grandparents who only recently became citizens,” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, director of education at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “We had 2.3m new registered voters in Los Angeles County and more than 40 per cent were Latino. That’s a sign of things to come for the rest of the country.”

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