AUSTIN, Texas — A major political shift has unfolded in Texas as election results show Republicans losing support among Hispanic and Latino voters, the state’s largest demographic group.
After Republicans made significant inroads with Latino communities in 2024, most South Texas counties with majority-Latino populations shifted back to Democratic.
The impact appeared in counties like Webb County, where half of voters supported President Trump in 2024 but nearly three out of four backed Democrat James Talarico for U.S. Senate.
In Starr County, Trump received over 57% of the vote in 2024. The latest results from the Associated Press show Talarico received 77% of the vote in the 2026 midterm race.
Domingo Garcia, president of the LULAC Adelante PAC, said the shift had a sweeping impact across the Texas electoral map.
“That shift allowed every Democrat in Texas to win,” Garcia said.
He added that Democrats will held to account to their promises to voters.
“But the Latino vote is not monolithic. It is a swing vote, just like it swung to the Republicans in 2024 and now swung to the Democrats in 2026,” Garcia said. “The Democratic Party and its elected officials are going to have to deliver to the working class families of Texas and Tejanos.”
Conservative political analyst Jorge Martinez said the result was a repudiation of the president, despite his support among South Texas voters in 2024.
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“It was a clear message that if you say you’re gonna do something, we want you to do it. The Hispanic vote in general is not married to any party,” Martinez said.
The recently released 2026 Midterm Election Voter Poll showed 58% of Latino voters listed the cost of living as a top issue heading into the election.
Martinez pointed to the Trump administration’s foreign policy and handling of affordability issues as a reason voters turned against the Republican Party.
“I think the conflict in Iran was an issue because it increased the cost of goods and services,” he said. “People today, they don’t see the effects of the Working Families Tax Cut, which saved us $3,000 in taxes every year. However, the price difference at the pump at the grocery stores still was not enough to get over that for many voters.”
Republican consultants said the GOP will need to work to win back South Texans and Latino voters.
“You show up, you talk to the people in their own terms and you have conversations and you talk them about what things you believe, where you have similarities and what things can do together,” said Garrett Fulce, a Republican consultant and host of the Seeing Red podcast.
Garcia described what accountability would look like for the newly elected candidates in Texas.
“They make sure that the price of electricity goes down, the price of groceries goes down. The minimum wage in Texas hasn’t been raised. It’s still $7 an hour. We expect that minimum wage to go up to $15 an hour to have an affordable living wage,” Garcia said, adding that he hopes to see action on health care and education as well.
You can view the latest results in the 2026 midterms races here.
