Republicans have long argued that Donald Trump’s gains in majority-Hispanic South Texas were not a one-time deal and, instead, the beginning of a larger trend.
The primary results on Tuesday night proved they’re right.
The GOP saw continued strong turnout in the state’s southernmost border counties in the latest display that Trump’s gains among Hispanic voters were no anomaly. But that was only part of the story. When the dust clears after the May 24 runoffs, as many as eight Latinos — including six women — could ultimately be Republican nominees for congressional seats across Texas. In the Rio Grande Valley alone, at least two Latinas will carry the GOP nod.
With the GOP continuing to pump money into South Texas and more Hispanic Republicans, particularly women, running for office, there are signs the traditional balance of power in the longtime Democratic stronghold is beginning to shift.
“We want to show Hispanics that this is what the Republican Party looks like. It looks just like them,” said Mayra Flores, who won the GOP nomination for her South Texas-based congressional seat. “We were raised to think that the Republican Party was for the rich and only white men and that’s not true. Look at us. We are the face of the party.”
Starr County — where Trump went from losing by 60 percentage points to Hillary Clinton to losing by only 5 points to Joe Biden — had the most dramatic shift in South Texas percentage-wise. Only 15 votes were cast in the GOP primary in 2018, less than one percent of the votes cast. This year, it was 1,632 votes — 24 percent of the share of votes.
The primary results show “it is not a one-off that was directly tied to Trump, but a larger movement of Hispanic voters, particularly as they leave some of these urban areas, that are starting to vote more like their neighbors in more conservative areas,” said Leslie Sanchez, a longtime Republican strategist and author of “Los Republicanos: Why Hispanics and Republicans Need Each Other.”
In interviews, Flores and Garcia — both first-time candidates — said they believe part of the reason Republicans are gaining traction is frustration over years of one-party rule in the region. They argue that Democrats have taken Hispanic voters for granted for too long, creating an opening for the GOP to court them.
“They’ve been making the same promises year after year and don’t keep them,” Flores said. “Why should we keep giving them our vote?”
Flores, Garcia and other Hispanic Republicans explain that the shift also stems from frustrations with the Biden administration and Democrats over their immigration and border policies. They argue that the GOP push for tougher border security, and a range of other issues, such as support for the oil and gas industry and opposition to abortion rights, have helped draw in their supporters.
“For years, Hispanics have voted Democrat, but now you talk to them and so many don’t feel like they identify with the party or the direction it’s going in,” Garcia said. “They feel the party is going too far left. And, really, we’re fairly conservative here.”
Sanchez said the GOP inroads are poised to continue — and might even accelerate because of the symbolic significance of the numerous Latina nominees this year.
“If one of them breaks through and wins, it’s history-making,” Sanchez said. “If two or three break through, it transforms Texas. It’s just groundbreaking.”
invite response
Republicans have long argued that Donald Trump’s gains in majority-Hispanic South Texas were not a one-time deal and, instead, the beginning of a larger trend.
The primary results on Tuesday night proved they’re right.
The GOP saw continued strong turnout in the state’s southernmost border counties in the latest display that Trump’s gains among Hispanic voters were no anomaly. But that was only part of the story. When the dust clears after the May 24 runoffs, as many as eight Latinos — including six women — could ultimately be Republican nominees for congressional seats across Texas. In the Rio Grande Valley alone, at least two Latinas will carry the GOP nod.
With the GOP continuing to pump money into South Texas and more Hispanic Republicans, particularly women, running for office, there are signs the traditional balance of power in the longtime Democratic stronghold is beginning to shift.
“We want to show Hispanics that this is what the Republican Party looks like. It looks just like them,” said Mayra Flores, who won the GOP nomination for her South Texas-based congressional seat. “We were raised to think that the Republican Party was for the rich and only white men and that’s not true. Look at us. We are the face of the party.”
Starr County — where Trump went from losing by 60 percentage points to Hillary Clinton to losing by only 5 points to Joe Biden — had the most dramatic shift in South Texas percentage-wise. Only 15 votes were cast in the GOP primary in 2018, less than one percent of the votes cast. This year, it was 1,632 votes — 24 percent of the share of votes.
The primary results show “it is not a one-off that was directly tied to Trump, but a larger movement of Hispanic voters, particularly as they leave some of these urban areas, that are starting to vote more like their neighbors in more conservative areas,” said Leslie Sanchez, a longtime Republican strategist and author of “Los Republicanos: Why Hispanics and Republicans Need Each Other.”
In interviews, Flores and Garcia — both first-time candidates — said they believe part of the reason Republicans are gaining traction is frustration over years of one-party rule in the region. They argue that Democrats have taken Hispanic voters for granted for too long, creating an opening for the GOP to court them.
“They’ve been making the same promises year after year and don’t keep them,” Flores said. “Why should we keep giving them our vote?”
Flores, Garcia and other Hispanic Republicans explain that the shift also stems from frustrations with the Biden administration and Democrats over their immigration and border policies. They argue that the GOP push for tougher border security, and a range of other issues, such as support for the oil and gas industry and opposition to abortion rights, have helped draw in their supporters.
“For years, Hispanics have voted Democrat, but now you talk to them and so many don’t feel like they identify with the party or the direction it’s going in,” Garcia said. “They feel the party is going too far left. And, really, we’re fairly conservative here.”
Sanchez said the GOP inroads are poised to continue — and might even accelerate because of the symbolic significance of the numerous Latina nominees this year.
“If one of them breaks through and wins, it’s history-making,” Sanchez said. “If two or three break through, it transforms Texas. It’s just groundbreaking.”