In the 2020 Presidential Election, President Joe Biden won 65 percent of the Hispanic vote, campaigning on defending the working class and fixing immigration.
But, in the 20 months he’s been in office, he hasn’t followed through on many of those promises. Republicans are capitalizing on that, making inroads into the Hispanic community.
As the President and Democrats celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month they’ll have to contend with Hispanic and Latino voters increasingly turning to the GOP as the party of their choice.
This is especially important as these voters — who shocked Texas and Florida Democrats in the last cycle — may cause significant upset to the Democratic party in key states like Nevada and Arizona during the midterms.
Republicans have been wooing Hispanic voters since 2012 when they published a report identifying the group as a potential area of “growth and opportunity” and quickly moved to attain their support.
Ten years after the report was published, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is touting the 102 Hispanic and Latino GOP candidates who filed to run for federal office as substantial progress it’s made in the community.
According to the RNC, Republicans outperformed Democrats by 83 percent in Texas primary election turnout last March.
Then, in another notable accomplishment for the GOP, Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX.) helped flip her predominantly (84 percent) Hispanic Rio-Grande Valley district, enabling the GOP to represent the district for the first time since 1870.
In an effort to claim victory in other states, the GOP will be looking to flip many other Hispanic communities during the midterms, pointing to 35 minority community centers known as the “Republican Civics Initiative” as a critical piece of the puzzle.
At these centers, Republicans prepare some of the 9.2 million lawful permanent residents or green-card holders, who’ve become eligible voters in January 2021, to pass the civics segment of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization test.
