Published on Feb. 23, 2026
Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›
Democrats are playing catch-up in having online influencers and content creators promote their candidates and priorities. A new strategy being rolled out ahead of the Texas primary by the party’s Congressional Hispanic Caucus political arm seeks to build a network of local influencers to better engage Latino voters after many of them gravitated toward Republicans in the 2024 election.
Why it matters
The strategy, called ‘RUIDO’ (Spanish for ‘noise’), aims to capitalize on the popularity of local influencers and social media superstars to more effectively spread Democrats’ messaging to Latino voters. This comes as Democrats continue to grapple with broad dissatisfaction and questions about how to effectively engage younger, non-college-educated, and minority voters who shifted away from the party in the 2024 presidential election.
The details
The program offers stipends to content creators who are accepted, with the money meant to support travel expenses for them to work with political campaigns. The nine Houston-area creators recruited range from political influencers to those discussing food, travel, sports, and local attractions, with online followings from a few thousand to around 100,000. Democrats hope to expand the effort to other competitive primary and general election races where Latino candidates and voters could prove decisive.
- The strategy is being rolled out as early voting begins for Texas’ statewide primary on March 3, 2026.
- The 2024 presidential election was a ‘wake-up call’ for Democrats regarding their engagement with Latino voters.
The players
Carlos Eduardo Espina
A progressive political influencer with more than 14 million followers on TikTok, who has promoted Democratic candidates and policies in the past.
Rep. Linda Sanchez
A California Democrat and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ political action committee.
Carlos Castillo
One of the influencers who joined the ‘RUIDO’ network.
What they’re saying
“I do think there’s a lot of failures in the past Democratic Party, but I think initiatives like this one are pretty cool.”
— Carlos Eduardo Espina, Political influencer (sfgate.com)
“The Trump campaign reached out to those nontraditional voices to amplify their message. We didn’t anticipate that was going to be a way by which politics was disseminated. We’ve seen the contrary, that we do need to be in those spaces, as well.”
— Rep. Linda Sanchez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ political action committee (sfgate.com)
“People are going to act more when they hear from a family member, when they hear from a friend. Just talking to people in an organic way, whether it’s through get-ready-with-me videos and just slightly mentioning, ‘Oh, also, by the way, the primaries are coming up in our state.’”
— Carlos Castillo, Influencer in the ‘RUIDO’ network (sfgate.com)
What’s next
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ political arm has yet to decide when or where to expand the ‘RUIDO’ program to other competitive primary and general election races.
The takeaway
This strategy highlights the growing importance of online influencers and content creators in political messaging, as Democrats seek to better engage Latino voters after many of them shifted toward Republicans in the 2024 election. The party’s efforts to partner with local influencers represent an acknowledgment that traditional campaign methods may not be enough to reach certain voter segments.
