Latino voters abandon Trump in droves, hand Democrats a midterm rout

Republicans got flattened on Tuesday, and Latino voters supplied the wrecking ball. Support for the GOP among Hispanic Americans dropped to 30%, down from the 48% Trump pulled in 2024, according to Pew Research. A New York Times analysis of voter trends put the nationwide swing toward Democrats at 28 points — the biggest turn of any demographic group, with Asian Americans next at 17.

That shift helped carry the House, the Senate and governor's mansions in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. In south Texas, Benny Melendez is one of the reasons why. The Weslaco housebuilder backed Trump two years ago over border security and the economy. Then ICE picked up two of his cousins and as many as 15 of his workers. 'They're taking our neighbors,' he told the Guardian. 'They're taking our family members. This is an attack against our community.'

Democrats swept all four congressional districts along the Mexican border — including three that Texas Republicans had gerrymandered to pad their House majority. Henry Cuellar held Texas 28 and Vicente Gonzalez held Texas 34, while Tejano music star Bobby Pulido flipped the 81% Hispanic 15th district, beating Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz by 24 points with 95% of ballots counted. 'Not bad for a quinceañera singer,' Pulido told his victory crowd. His campaign manager Abel Prado credited the deportation drive, telling the Guardian: 'When you implement policies with such cruelty and malice, then this is what you get.'

Texas also elected its first Latino governor: Democrat Gina Hinojosa, a Rio Grande Valley native whose mother emigrated from Mexico. California will get its own first elected Latino governor in Xavier Becerra, the son of Mexican immigrants. At Becerra's closing rally in Los Angeles, Senator Alex Padilla said the community had 'endured relentless attacks' from Trump and 'his rogue ICE agents.'

Florida delivered more bad news. In Miami-Dade, which Trump carried by 15 points in 2024, Republican incumbent Maria Elvira Salazar was locked in a nail-biter with Democratic rival Eliott Rodriguez. Salazar had warned in a September ad that the mass deportations had 'gone too far' — Trump accused her of backstabbing and insisted his Latino support 'hasn't wavered.' Voters settled it.

Stephanie Valencia of Equis Research said the community had long been called a sleeping giant. 'Now we're really the swinging giant,' she said, describing the night as a blunt rejection of 'misplaced priorities and broken promises.' But she had a warning for Democrats heading into their search for a presidential nominee: voters have put them on probation, and this swing shouldn't be mistaken for something permanent.