Why the Democrats lost to Trump, a latino perspective

Donald Trump and the Republican Party gained a huge national shift in Latino votes. Why?

There are many obvious reasons: the cost of living, massive intentional illegal migration, low approval ratings for both Biden and Harris, and the belief of two-thirds of Americans that the country was going in the wrong direction. But how do we explain Hispanic gains across the nation, in Democrat strongholds like Pennsylvania, California, and New York, and along the border?

This trend has been growing over multiple election cycles. Many conservative groups have worked on this. The Hispanic Republican Club of North Texas, the Libre Initiative, Hispanic Republicans of Texas PAC, and Texas Latino Conservatives have organized, conducted research, and worked in the community for years. We did not need to flip a majority of Hispanic voters, just enough of a margin. This election, Democrats’ policies, campaigns, and optics helped us flip voters.

Democrats made big mistakes. Colin Allred’s ads were all about abortion. No one in his campaign considered how Latino voters would react. Our communities are Christian; we love children, our families, and especially babies. We are pro-life. We understand that pregnancy is behavioral. We know the definition of a woman. In 2023, all but one Democrat voted against protecting babies born alive in botched abortions when the House passed the "Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act." In 2023, there were over 100 acts of violence against Catholic churches nationally.

"All joking aside, even more Puerto Ricans voted for Trump than ever before."

Allred’s claim of border security was laughable. Every previously blue county on the border flipped red! Voters there suffered at the front line of Democrats’ open borders. Parts of the Rio Grande Valley have as much trash as the plastic in the ocean. Where is the environmentalists’ outrage? Latinos do not want boys in girls’ sports or locker rooms. Ted Cruz beat Allred by a wider margin than expected.

Democrats ignored their astute observers of Hispanic voters. Ruy Teixeira, a Democrat researcher, has been warning about the looming disaster for Democrats regarding Hispanic voters for years. No one paid attention. We reject the analysis by writer Paola Ramos, who attributes this election to misogyny, sexism, and racism. This common, reductionist view is incapable of seeing beyond flawed presuppositions. More women and Latinos voted for Republicans than ever. All joking aside, even more Puerto Ricans voted for Trump than ever before.

Many Latinos are self-employed as skilled workers, carpenters, plumbers, builders, and roofers. The burden of inflation, rising costs of materials, and excessive regulations hurt our ability to do business and earn profits. The cost of cars and insurance for working people is too high. Many uninsured, illegal drivers cost us money. Ask any day laborer.

To Hispanic voters, the way Democrats portrayed themselves reminded us of the worst aspects of Latin American countries that we tried to leave behind.

A few examples:

We simply want to live well and thrive

Latinos come to this country for a better life. We have a clear vision of what we left behind. We remember the razor wire and gated communities from Matamoros to Patagonia. Like all American citizens, Hispanic voters want safe, secure communities. We are appalled by the violent crimes committed by illegal migrants. Why did the Democrats engineer this? As of July 2024, 662,566 non-citizens with criminal histories were on the ICE docket, including 13,099 convicted murderers (ICE Office of Congressional Relations). A post-election CNN piece showed an undocumented mechanic saying he supports Trump for the sake of his family’s betterment, even if he is deported. Wow. He is not alone.

The courts in Latin American countries are commonly corrupt. The January 6th Committee hearings in Congress, with the lack of cross-examination, exclusion of evidence, and one-sided testimonies, looked exactly like the kangaroo courts we left behind. We understand unfairness when it is obvious. Here again, Democrats proved incapable of seeing the world through Hispanic eyes.

"If the second Trump economy is as good or better than the previous Trump economy, the Republicans’ margins will improve."

We both visited the border several times during the Biden-Harris regime. We know that compared to Trump, more families were separated by Obama and Biden. Most Border Patrol officers are Hispanic. The National Border Patrol Council supported Trump. This year alone, brave Border Patrol agents were assaulted 463 times. We know the Biden administration ordered them to let everyone in. We know they were silenced by a gag order and not allowed to talk to the media. We know that journalists were prohibited from filming the border. These deplorable tactics remind us of Latin American dictators.

We live, work, shop, study, and attend church alongside immigrants. We hear personal, individual accounts from some of the more than eight million illegal migrants of the Biden-Harris years. A high percentage of women crossing the border are sexually assaulted by smugglers, the coyotes. These women talk with us; they tell us their stories and show up in our churches. Journalists have been silent on this catastrophe. Shame on them. No intellectual curiosity, no concern for human rights—worse than journalistic malpractice, this amounts to the suppression of vital news. Where were the liberal feminists’ voices? Maybe Hispanic mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and cousins decided to vote against the mass rape of millions of young, desperate women. This is a taboo subject, but a motivation to vote.

Is the Latino voter shift to Trump a one-time anomaly, or will the trend continue? Will the Democrats keep believing it’s due to internalized, unconscious bias? Will they continue to be led by the academic fringe? Is the true problem simply messaging?

Democrat strategist James Carville, in an expletive-laden rant, said Hispanics will realize their vote for Trump will be betrayed. Thanks to Democrat policies, thousands of Latinos have finally discovered betrayal and voted accordingly. This election was about truth and reality versus lies. The Democrats and the media lied to us. We’ve long seen that Biden has dementia, and the cost of living is brutal.

This voting trend will continue. Latinos do not identify as "voters of color." We simply want to live well and thrive. If the second Trump economy is as good or better than the previous Trump economy, the Republicans’ margins will improve. Remember, Republicans do not need the majority of Hispanic votes, just a significant margin. This is called voter realignment, a term we have used internally for years that has become mainstream. Thanks for your help, Democrats.