Democrats and liberal commentators are desperately trying to explain away one of the biggest shocks of the 2024 election: Donald Trump’s 46% share of the Hispanic vote, a modern-day Republican record and remarkable improvement over the 32% he received four years ago.
But their explanations demonstrate striking elitism and lack of self-awareness and accountability. For example, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), likely the next Congressional Progressive Caucus chair, chalked up Latino voter erosion to right-wing “misinformation.” Joe Scarborough, co-host of Morning Joe, blamed “misogyny” and racism from Latino men.
Several pundits, such as CNN’s Jim Acosta, claimed Hispanics voted against their “self-interest.” And MSNBC’s Joy Reid accused Hispanics of voting against their race: “Y’all voted with … David Duke and against your … wives, sisters, and abuelas.” This kind of race essentialism – believing that Hispanics should vote solely based on their race – is the real racism, not the perceived slights the media obsesses over.
Job Creators Network’s Hispanic Vote Coalition, led by Executive Director Mary Thomas, spent the year traveling across the country to engage with Hispanic voters and faith leaders in their own communities to learn about the issues most impacting them and equipping them with the resources to vote their values this election. We found a highly receptive audience eager to engage in political issues and sick of being talked down to and taken for granted by Democrats – and largely ignored by Republicans.
Our key finding: Hispanics have the same concerns as everyone else. Hispanics are just as concerned about their faith and families, the economy and inflation, crime, and the direction of the country as all Americans. President Trump spoke to these concerns far better than Democrats, and that’s the reason for his historic performance with Hispanics. And, it turns out, with Americans of almost all backgrounds.
Trump recognized that Hispanics aren’t an identity group that can be pitted against others in tribal political warfare. The Harris campaign ran on this soft bigotry through promises such as forgivable $20,000 loans to Hispanic men, but Trump treated Hispanics as part of his broader coalition of working-class Americans striving for the American Dream.
Hispanic voters didn’t need to listen to the political rhetoric. They merely needed to observe and compare their quality of life while Trump and Harris were in office. Real median Hispanic household income grew $6,500 between 2017 and 2019, 10 times faster than between 2021 and 2023 under Biden-Harris.
Our Hispanic Vote Project found that Latinos are especially concerned about their businesses remaining profitable and their churches remaining solvent. We talked to many part-time pastors who were also small business owners, and many expressed concerns about rising taxes and inflation.
They feared their congregations would be forced to work more to earn less, significantly impacting their time available for church activities and ability to tithe. The bigger the state, they noted, the smaller the influence of the church in their respective communities.
Armed with this information, we went into Hispanic communities with Spanish advertisements, media, and materials for trusted leaders to distribute. Instead of merely translating English ads into Spanish, we created unique ads and messaging targeted to effectively reach a Hispanic audience. Our Que Mala Kamala Spanish video went viral.
We saw that Hispanics listen to a lot of radio, so we loaded up on relatively inexpensive ads on this underappreciated platform. One that connects Hispanic listeners to their communities – and their heritage.
To consolidate and build on these Hispanic gains, conservatives need to continue to genuinely engage with and learn from this constituency between election cycles, not just during them. We need a permanent Hispanic engagement infrastructure to make these voters part of our coalition for the long term.
In short, we need to do the opposite of Democrats and liberal pundits. We must listen to and engage with Hispanics in their own communities rather than dismiss this growing community that will decide elections as misinformed, bigoted, and voting against their own self-interest.
• This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.
