The 2016 U.S. presidential election stunned many Americans. Even so-called experts--journalists, pollsters, and media talking heads--were left scratching their heads. How could their predictions have been so wrong? Amidst their post-mortem dissection of the election, pundits particularly expressed surprise in the seemingly mild response of Latino voters, the ones most affected by the inflammatory rhetoric of candidate Trump about immigration, trade with Mexico, and "the wall...a great wall-- and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me." Election preview articles and television shows held out hope for the Democratic candidate by referring to Latinos both as a "sleeping giant" within the American electorate and as Hillary Clinton's "firewall" that would assure her victory. Yet exit polls revealed that Trump's provocative comments failed to catalyze Democratic support among Latinos. In fact, Trump maintained roughly the same percentage of the Latino vote as Mitt Romney in 2012-while Clinton's notably dropped from Barack Obama's. What happened?

Part of the answer reflects that Latinos in America should not be seen as culturally or politically uniform, especially since they are experiencing profound shifts. More specifically, the cultures and politics of Latinos have been influenced by the growing numbers of Protestants in their midst. Fully 22 percent of all Latinos in the United States are now Protestant. And that percentage is growing. Pew Research Center projects that by 2030 at least 50 percent of all Latinos will be Protestant. Thus, to fully appreciate the heterogeneity of Latino-ism, it will be increasingly necessary to understand Latino Protestantism in America.

Latino Protestantism today stands out for its exceptional growth. We know that Christian leaders are concerned about the rise of the nonreligious ("nones") in the United States. Yet, Latino Protestants are increasing even more rapidly, and church leaders may be taking their increased presence for granted. After all, denominational and congregational leaders are indeed seeing higher attendance of Latinos in their churches, supporting numerous Latino sub-congregations within their buildings, and watching the proliferation of Spanish-speaking congregations in their neighborhoods-many of which are sponsored by white-dominated organizations. More than just their numerical increase, though, Latino Protestants should be more intentionally recognized and supported because their faith matters deeply for them.