Face of U.S. changing; elections to look different

  • By NANCY BENAC
    Associated Press
  • Posted: Saturday, November 10, 2012 9:11 p.m.
FILE - This Nov. 6, 2012 file photo shows voters in the Weston Ranch area of Stockton, Calif. It's not just the economy. It's the demographics _ the changing face of America. The 2012 elections drove home trends that have been embedded in the fine print of birth and death rates, immigration statistics and census charts for years. America is rapidly getting more diverse. And, more gradually, so is its electorate. Non-whites made up 28 percent of the electorate this year, up from 21 percent in 2000, and much of that growth is coming from Hispanics. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
FILE - This Nov. 6, 2012 file photo shows voters in the Weston Ranch area of Stockton, Calif. It's not just the economy. It's the demographics _ the changing face of America. The 2012 elections drove home trends that have been embedded in the fine print of birth and death rates, immigration statistics and census charts for years. America is rapidly getting more diverse. And, more gradually, so is its electorate. Non-whites made up 28 percent of the electorate this year, up from 21 percent in 2000, and much of that growth is coming from Hispanics. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The face of America is changing, and that means its elections will look different, too.

Tuesday’s election drove home demographic trends that have been embedded in the fine print of birth rates and immigration statistics for years.

America is getting more diverse.

Nonwhites made up 28 percent of the electorate this year, compared with 20 percent in 2000. Much of that growth comes from Hispanics.

The trend helped Barack Obama for two elections in a row now.

Obama won 80 percent of the growing ranks of nonwhite voters this year. Mitt Romney lost even though he dominated among white men, who make up an ever-shrinking slice of America.

Another trend: more single women, because of divorce and later marriage. Single women are more likely to say they are Democrats.

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