Washington – President Trump made historic gains with Latinos when he won re-affirmation last year, boosting Republicans’ confidence that their economic message was helping them gain ground with the electorate.
But in this week’s election, Democrats in key races were able to derail that additional change with Latino backlash, Poll results are shown.
In New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats running for governor made gains in states with large Latino populations, and a combined two-thirds of the Latino vote in their states, according to an NBC News Poll.
And in California, CNN EXP IPHELELL revealed that almost 70% of Latinos voted in favor of Proposition 50, a re-democratic plan designed to counter Trump’s redistricting maps.
The results mark the first concrete example at the ballot box of Latino voters turning away from the GOP – the Shift Recent polls are shown As their concerns about the economy and transport attacks have grown.
Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill celebrates with supporters after being elected the new governor of Jersey.
(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
If the star continues, it could spell trouble for Republicans in next year’s election, said Gary Segura, a professor of public policy, political science and Chicana/o Studies at UCLA. This could be especially true in California and Texas, where both parties are targeting Latino voters to help them pick up seats in the House, Segura said.
“The year is a long time in politics, but certainly the polls that will be pristics, 50 is a very good poll, a very good sign of the Democrats’ Power to take the districts that the Democrats have just drawn,” said Segura. “I think Latino voters will have a hand in the outcome.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are feeling hopeful that their warnings about Trump’s transportation crackdown and a bad economy are resonating with Latinos.
Republicans are wondering what depot can maintain support among Latinos without Trump on the ticket. In 2024, Trump won nearly 48% of the Latino vote nationally — a record for any Republican candidate.
Some Republicans see this week’s trend among Latino voters as “Dial Dial.”
“The Hispanic vote is not guaranteed. Hispanics are married to President Donald Trump but are in love with the GOP,” Republican rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida said in a social media video the next day. “I’ve been warning: If the GOP doesn’t deliver, we’re going to lose the Hispanic vote across the country.”
Economic problems are the main driver
Last year Trump was able to develop a more widespread frustration with the economy to win the support of Latinos. He promised to create jobs and reduce the cost of living.
But polls show that a majority of Latino voters now disapprove of how Trump and the Republicans who control Congress are handling the economy. Half of Latinos said they expect Trump’s economic policies to leave them worse off a year from now in a Unidos Poll released last week.
In New Jersey, that idea was stolen by voters like Rumaldo Gomez. He he told MSNBC He voted for Trump last year but this week attended the democratic election for governor, rep. Mikey Sherrill.
“Now, I look at Trump as different,” Gomez said. “The economy is not looking good.”
GomeZ added that he was “deeply saddened” about the global assault led by the Trump administration that has torn apart hard-working families.
While Latino voters fear being affected by immigration enforcement actions, polls suggest they are more concerned about the cost of living, jobs and housing. The Unidos Poll showed migration as the Fifth in the list of concerns.
In New Jersey and Virginia, the Democrats’ double victory was built on promises to reduce the cost of living, while blaming Trump for their economic pain.
Marcus Robinson, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said the Democratic National Committee’s Margins and collected important statistics that get to lead the voters who know Trump in the economy behind him. “
“These results show that Latino communities wanted progress, not a return to chaos and broken promises,” she said.
Republicans see a different story for Trump
GOP strategist Math Terrell, former chief of staff to Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 campaign, said the election results are not an indicator for Trump.
Latino voters were left behind because Trump wasn’t on the ballot, she said.
Last year “it wasn’t Latinos who turned out for the Republican party, it was Latinos who turned out for President Trump,” she said. “Like him or not, he’s able to turn off voters that the Republican party traditionally doesn’t get.”
With Trump barred by the Constitution from running for a third term, Republicans are left to wonder if they can get the Latino vote back in their absence. Terrill believes Republicans need to hammer the issue of affordability as a priority.
Mike Madrid, a “never Trump” Republican and political director of the California Republican Party, has a different opinion.
“They left both teams,” said Madrid’s Latinos. “They left the Republican party for the same reasons they left the Democratic party in November: not to deal with economic problems.”
The economy has long been a major concern of Latinos, it means, yet all the parties continue to frame the Latino political agenda around the revolutionary agenda.
“Latinos don’t vote for Democrats or Republicans — they vote against Democrats and Republicans,” Madrid said. “It’s a very big difference. The Partisans all look at us like we’re a strange little creature.”
Work ahead
Democrat Abigail Spanberger was elected governor in Virginia in part because of large gains in Latino-heavy communities. One of the biggest benefits was in Manassas Park, where over 40% of the residents are Latino. He won the city by 42 points, double the Democrats’ performance there in the previous election.
The change of the Democrats happened because Latinos believed that Trump when he promised to reduce the high cost of living and that he would go with the democratic campaign Maria Cardona, who worked with the Democratic Campaign Pardona, who had the Spanberger campaign with access to the Spanish media.
Instead, he argued, Trump betrayed them.
Cardona said the medicaid cuts are part of Trump’s biggest package this year.
“Which republicans are wrongly misled and mistakenly think that the reorientation of voters is not just voters,” he said. “Latinos should not be considered a vote.”
Political scientists warn that the results of this week’s election will determine how the races will play out a year from now.
“It’s just one election, but certainly the seeds are planted for Latino Democratic Recouts in 2026,” said Brad Jones, a political science professor at UC Davis.
Now, both parties need to explain how they expect to fulfill their promises if elected.
“They’re not going to sit back and say, ‘Of course Latinos are coming back because the economy is bad and the immigration is bad,'” Jones said. “The Democratic Party’s work will now reach Latino voters in more than symbolic ways.”
