McAllen, Texas, Oct. 29 (askanews) – In the Rio Grande Valley, deep in South Texas, voters could realize Democrats' hopes of winning their first election in over 30 years. Thanks largely to the Hispanic vote, a large community here, after supporting President Donald Trump in 2024, is turning against the Republican leader, responsible for runaway inflation and a ruthless crackdown on migrants.
“We punished the Democrats by voting for the Republicans,” says Benny Melendez, “and the Republicans betrayed us even more, so we will punish them too by voting for the Democrats again, until both parties learn that if they go after Hispanics and Latinos again, they will not only lose money, but also lose political power.” The anger over the ICE raids is great, explains Marìa Teresa Kumar, co-founder of “Voto Latino,” a major organization dedicated to registering and mobilizing Hispanic voters.
“There's no one in this room who doesn't know someone who's been stopped or detained on suspicion of being undocumented, and people have had enough,” he says. “That's why the vote you're witnessing right now represents the first time in 10 years that Latinos are flocking to the polls.” The numbers show that early voting is surging in this area, with turnout in some counties up by about 75% compared to the same period in the last midterm elections, those of 2022.
Askanews