Many Latinos are over Trump. The shift is especially striking in Texas
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Set us as preferred EDINBURG, Texas — Clad in pressed jeans and cowboy hats, dozens of riders on horseback and drivers in pickups kicked up dust along a dirt road in Edinburg, near the southern tip of Texas.They were there for a cabalgata, a traditional horse procession, with a political message: Send Tejano singer Bobby Pulido to Congress.Some were lifelong Democrats.
Others had voted for President Trump two years ago.But on this Saturday, they all rode for Pulido, a Democrat trying to flip a House seat Trump carried by 18 percentage points in 2024.Among them was David Lopez, 54, astride his brown horse, Black Jack.
He voted for Trump because he saw him as a good businessman.But now, Lopez says the president’s tariffs have hurt his truck and trailer repair shop in nearby McAllen, and business is down about 20% from last year.
“I am voting Democrats all the way.Trump is no longer doing a good job,” Lopez said.
“We need to find a way to make it out of this together.”Lopez is part of a shift rippling through Latino communities across the country.Two years after helping return Trump to the White House with a Republican-controlled Congress, Latino voters are souring on the party in power, fueled by frustration over rising costs and the administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.In 2024, Trump won the support of 48% of Latino voters, expanding Republican gains with a group that has long leaned Democratic.
Now, that support is cratering.The president’s approval rating among Latino registered voters has fallen to 24% from 38% at the start of his second term, polls show.Among Latinos who voted for Trump, 65% say they plan to back Republicans on Nov.
3, while more than a third said they were ready to vote for a Democrat or were undecided, according to a Pew Research Center poll released this ...