Tag Archive for: hispanic voters

Republican Mayra Flores Wins South Texas District Democrats Carried By 13 Points In 2020

Republican Mayra Flores, a first-time candidate for elected office, won the special election in Texas’ 34th District to complete the term of former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela, who resigned in March.

With more than 70% of votes counted, Flores held 51% support, and Democrat Dan Sanchez garnered 43.5%. Despite the presence of two other candidates on the ballot, one Democrat and one Republican, Flores was able to avoid a run-off. Several elections analysts called the race shortly after 10 pm Eastern Time.

The special election was spurred on by Vela’s resignation on March 31. The five-term moderate had announced in March 2021 that he would not seek re-election in 2022, and left the lower chamber on March 31 to take a job at the Washington, DC-based corporate law firm Akin Gump.

Vela won re-election by 13.6% in 2020, and Joe Biden won the district by four points.

Flores, who received endorsements from House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, won the primary on March 1 to run in November’s general election against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. Gonzalez will attempt to switch districts from the 15th, which was redistricted into a toss-up seat. That new 34th District will lean 17 points towards the Democrats, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Elected Democrats and party strategists have repeatedly expressed concern that Hispanic and Latino voters are swinging towards the Republican Party. Biden’s approval rating with Hispanic and Latino voters sits in the mid-20s, several recent polls have shown, the worst of any ethnic group. The 34th District is 85% Hispanic, the U.S. Census found in 2020, one of the most Hispanic congressional seats in the country.

The Republican National Committee and GOP members of Congress have expanded outreach in Hispanic and Latino communities. House Republicans announced the Hispanic Leadership Trust in May, and co-chairman and Texas Rep. Tony Gonzalez campaigned for Flores. The RNC opened several Hispanic outreach centers in South Texas in 2021.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Special Election Could Give GOP A Chance To Prove Gains With Hispanics

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Top Biden Pollster Warns ‘Most Americans Are Pissed’

Top Biden Pollster Warns ‘Most Americans Are Pissed,’ Says Democrats Are Facing ‘Really Sour Environment’


President Joe Biden’s chief pollster John Anzalone warned Democrats about major electoral problems going into the 2022 midterms in an interview released Friday, although he believes that they can still avoid major losses.

Anzalone, who also worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, has previously warned of Biden’s low approval rating overall and among Hispanic voters in particular. He told Politico’s Ryan Lizza that voters are unhappy with the Democrats’ lack of action on key issues such as inflation and health care.

“Voters are very much in ‘What have you done for me lately?’ They always are. And they don’t feel Democrats can get their shit together and get things done,” Anzalone said.

“So if we’re able to do something — a skinny BBB or whatever — on health insurance costs, prescription drug costs, elderly care, childcare, that’s a big deal because it will give Democrats a competitive advantage on what they’re doing for working families. And it’ll cut through the inflation narrative, the Ukraine narrative, the Afghan narrative, the border narrative, etc.,” he continued.

Anzalone also pushed back on the perception that Hispanic voters primarily care about immigration.

“There’s this narrative in D.C. among Democrats that you only talk to Latinos about immigration. Like, immigration is the twelfth issue that they’re concerned about. It’s always about the economy or inflation or healthcare or schools,” he said.

Republicans are pinpointing a July special election in South Texas as a test of their newfound gains among Hispanic voters. Republican Mayra Flores, who will also seek a full term in November, is hoping that concerns about immigration and inflation will be decisive in flipping a seat formerly held by Democrat Filemon Vela.

Anzalone also argued that Democrats should push tax increases on wealthier Americans, adding that Democrats are too “scared of their own shadow” to do so.

“Biden’s proposal of making those making over $400,000 pay a little bit more taxes and big corporations pay a little bit more taxes so they pay their fair share to make investments in healthcare and education and childcare is really important,” he claimed. “Most Americans are pissed at the fact that they pay their fair share in taxes as middle-class people. They work hard. They want to see the benefits of the economy.”

Election forecasters believe that Republicans could pick up as many as 35 seats in the midterms, which would create the party’s largest majority since the Great Depression. Anzalone believes that such losses could be in the cards for Democrats if they do not act quickly.

“No one’s going to sit there as a Democratic consultant and try to bullshit you that this is anything but a really sour environment for Democrats,” he said.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Are Latinos Really Abandoning Dems? Poll Analysis Gives New Insight

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.