Demographics, Research, and Analysis
There is much to be understood about how Italians have adapted to becoming Americans, and, in turn, how America has changed thanks to the immigration of Italians. As the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute continues with its Italian Diasporas: Data Snapshot project in demographics, research, and data analysis, the aim is to provide information regarding a variety of characteristics related to the Italian diaspora addressing the issues of assimilation and accommodation.
This month the Data Snapshot explores voting patterns of Italian Americans using the data from the 2024 presidential election. Given the limited availability of data by specific ethnicity nation-wide, the focus is on New York City. No claims are being made beyond its borders.
Overall, New York State experienced a high Republican turnout in the 2024 presidential election. Although New York City has tended to vote strongly blue, there has been a change since the 2020 presidential election. The Center for Urban Research at The City University of New York monitors voting patterns through its NYC Election Atlas; this data indicates the trend toward red regardless of ethnicity.* Their maps indicate how different neighborhoods cast presidential votes in 2024 and compare these to previous elections. Since data is available about the dominant ethnic presence in a neighborhood, this allows a comparison between voting behavior and declared ethnicity.
The first map included in this month’s Data Snapshot shows how the presidential candidates fared by party (Democrat versus Republican) in neighborhoods throughout the city. The second map shows those neighborhoods where the dominant declared ethnicity is Italian/Italian American. This is not a calculated correlation; it is a visual comparison.
What is the significance of this information? Beyond the results at the national level, there are implications for trends in statewide and local elections. This warrants a discussion beyond the Data Snapshot series. Certainly, the midterm elections in 2026 will indicate the scope of the change on voting behavior. The outcomes remain to be seen.
* https://www.electionatlas.nyc/maps.html
The Institute invites you to share suggestions for future snapshots and reports.
All data was retrieved from https://www.statista.com and is current for 2024.
Infogram
For previous Data Snapshots click here.