It’s become old news to say Hispanics in Texas are in the midst of a political realignment. In the summer of this year, Republican candidate Mayra Flores won a special election in South Texas, solidifying the pattern.
However, recent polling data for Hispanics in Texas provides a better picture of the Democrats’ statewide difficulty. The short explanation is things are bad for them now, but will grow much worse over the next few months and years.
In 2018 US midterm elections 69% Hispanics voted Democrat. candidates, only 29% for Republicans. Latest New York Times poll puts Hispanic support for Dems at 41% and 40% for Repubs. Major demographic shift in US voting habits is underway.
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) August 7, 2022
The Findings
The findings of a poll were conducted among 1,200 Hispanic voters in Texas and provided by Echelon Insights’ Patrick Ruffini, Impacto Group’s Leslie Sanchez, and respected pollster Lance Tarrance.
In the first place, they discovered a dead heat between the parties in light of the upcoming election (43% to 43%).
With only a two-point advantage in the South Texas subsample, Republicans have a legitimate shot at winning all three congressional districts in the lower Rio Grande Valley.
Remember, Republicans intentionally built these districts to capture Democratic voters.
Texas poll: Democrats' losses among Hispanics are only just beginning https://t.co/seAmxA4dXj If you reside in white only Texas and are Hispanic and do not vote for Beto or other Dems, then you are completely stupid, ill-informed about racism and its roots and will suffer.
— William smith (@boguiboy62) August 12, 2022
Of course, that’s only the first step in the evolution that’s taking place. Several figures below the fold indicate potential benefits to parties that have not yet been realized.
For instance, 61 percent of Hispanic participants were “troubled by the direction” of the modern, progressive Democrat Party.
What are the major issues voters have with modern Democrats? The party “focuses mostly on race and gender problems” (12%), “supports government welfare payments for individuals who don’t work” (18%), and “advocates socialism” (14%).
When asked which party they identified with “hard work,” respondents favored the Republicans by a margin of 15 points.
They also favored Republicans by a margin of eight points for their support of small companies and seven points for their ability to improve the immigration system.
The Democrat Party
Concerning some topics, this cohort is, therefore, becoming more aware of the modern Democrat Party as it exists today.
Overall, the public has a low opinion of Joe Biden, sharing the disapproval of 57% of the population. The majority of respondents (57%) were in favor of stricter border enforcement, with this number increasing to 60% among border residents in South Texas.
The best and most intriguing finding from this survey is that Hispanic Texans are most proud of being Americans (43%) or Texans (23%), not Latinos or Hispanics (21%) when asked how they identify themselves.
A genuine display of togetherness and patriotism comes despite the cultural pressures of intersectionality that are attempting to divide the country and generally split the nation.
There are clues in national polls that Hispanic voters may be following this pattern, but it is unclear how strongly or whether they are in other states.
It’s important to note voters of diverse Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, or Venezuelan ancestries will inevitably follow the same trends.
Nonetheless, Democrats are currently up a creek without a paddle, at least in Texas and among communities of Mexican Americans.
When they lose a debate or an election, they will have to add Hispanics to the list of groups they automatically label as white supremacists.
This article appeared in The Political Globe and has been published here with permission.
