Poll: Obama has wide lead in Latino bloc

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WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- President Obama has a large lead among Latino voters and Mitt Romney is having difficulty making inroads with the fast-growing voting bloc, a poll indicates.

Obama leads Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, 66 percent to 25 percent, in nationwide USA Today-Gallup Poll of Hispanics released Monday.

Results indicated Romney is in the weakest position among Latino voters of any presidential contender since 1996.

The poll did find that a generational shift among Latinos could open the door for Republicans as the group deepens its roots in the United States.

Obama is supported by 72 percent of Latino registered voters who immigrated themselves, 69 percent of those with at least one immigrant parent and 58 percent of those whose parents were born in the United States, results indicated.

Eighteen percent of immigrant voters say they favor Romney, while 22 percent who indicated they are children with at least one immigrant parent said they favor the likely GOP challenger. Thirty-five percent of Hispanics whose families have been in the United States for at least two generations say they favor Romney.

Results are based on a nationwide poll of 1,753 Hispanic adults, including 1,005 registered voters, from April 16 to May 31. The margin of error is 3 percentage points for the full sample and 4 percentage points for registered voters only.