LatinX Vote Progressive, Latinos Vote Conservative

Pictured above is Mayra Flores who ran as a Republican to defeat Dan Sanchez (a Democrat) in the Texas special election in congressional district 34, flipping the 84% Hispanic Rio Grande Valley seat red. By winning the special election, Flores became the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress and is the wife of a border patrol agent. Although Flores will have to defend her seat in the Fall midterms later this year, her victory in an 84% Hispanic district is indicative of a more significant trend: the emerging rift in the Hispanic voting demographic between LatinX voters who represent Woke college dogma and Latino voters who embody the hard-working spirit that drove parents to make harrowing journies in pursuit of the American Dream. In other words: LatinX vote Progressive and Latinos vote Conservative.

In a Gallup poll, only 4% of Hispanic Americans chose ‘LatinX’ as their preferred term with 23% choosing ‘Hispanic’ and 15% selecting ‘Latino.’ Another poll from Politico found that 40% of Hispanic voters were bothered by LatinX and found the term offensive with 30% of Hispanics being less likely to support candidates and organizations using LatinX in their marketing. It’s clear that usage of the term LatinX is not only unhelpful but actively detrimental to gaining Hispanic support. On some level it makes sense; why would a term popularized in Western college-educated elite environments speak to the proud Hispanic? The answer seems to be it won’t.

The above poll shows that in the upcoming 2022 congressional elections, 52% of Latino voters are planning to vote Republican while 39% (presumably the LatinX) are planning to vote Democrat. Some of the factors that could be driving Hispanic voting patterns are religion, immigration, and crime. Hispanics are religious. As of 2014, 82% of Hispanics had some religious affiliation with a majority (55%) identifying as Catholic.

“67% of Hispanics have said they worry a great deal or fair amount about illegal immigration. That is higher than worry among non-Hispanic whites (59%) and blacks (57%).” - Gallup

Hispanics worry more about illegal immigration than their white counterparts and are supportive of increasing secruity along the US-Mexico border to decrease the number of illegal crossings. 20.6% of border patrol agents are Hispanic and in 2018 made up 10/11 members of the Border Patrol Citizens Academy. In 2020, 57% of Hispanics were against the defunding of police departments and crime is a top issue amongst Hispanic voters.

The 2022 midterms are still months away and a lot can change during this time. One thing that is clear is that minorities are not a monolith; Mayra Flores becoming the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress after running as a Republican is proof of this fact. What makes Hispanics a diverse group is not their race, but the myriad of ideas they bring to the table like a rich culture and motivated people willing to put in the hard work needed to pursue their passions. In the 21st century, the most accurate predictor of voting patterns will not be gender, race, or any other superficial category; it will be idealogy. LatinX vote Progressive and Latinos vote Conservative.