Trump wooed Latino voters, but his ICE tactics sent them back to the polls: ‘They’re taking our neighbors’

Democrats swept to major wins in Tuesday's midterms, and the Guardian reports that an angry surge of Hispanic voters, reacting to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement, was a driving force. Nationwide, Latino support for Republicans dropped to 30% from the 48% Pew Research found for Donald Trump in 2024. The New York Times analysis put the swing toward Democrats at 28 points, the largest of any group; Asian Americans came next at 17.

Benny Melendez, a housebuilder in Weslaco, Texas, voted for Trump in 2024 expecting deportations to target people with criminal records. Instead, ICE removed two of his cousins and as many as 15 of his workers to Mexico, so he backed Democrats this time. Stephanie Valencia, co-founder of Equis Research, said Latinos have shown they can swing elections.

The results included historic firsts. Texas elected Democrat Gina Hinojosa as its first Latino governor, and California chose Xavier Becerra for the same distinction. Along the Texas border, Democrats took all four congressional districts, including three that Republicans had redrawn to help themselves. In one, the Tejano singer Bobby Pulido ousted Republican Monica De La Cruz by 24 points with 95% of ballots counted.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →