Democrats lose their lock on Hispanic vote

 Washington Examiner:

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McAllen is 85% Hispanic. Hidalgo County is 92% Hispanic. And Texas’s 15th Congressional District, which Gonzalez narrowly managed to keep in Democratic control, is over 81% Hispanic. The average pundit would assume those numbers alone indicate the GOP should be nowhere near competitive in this part of the country. And yet, here we are.

The GOP has come a long way in South Texas. Current Gov. Greg Abbott visited McAllen and the surrounding area multiple times in his first run for governor in 2014. He went on to lose Hidalgo County by 28 points. Democrats mocked him at the time for the effort, but Abbott crushed Democratic opponent Wendy Davis regardless. Republicans were not discouraged from continuing the outreach effort over the years. And now, they’re starting to see the payoff.

Last fall, Donald Trump massively overperformed in Val Verde and Zapata Counties along the Rio Grande. With Villalobos's win, there's a pattern: It turns out Republicans can win Hispanic places when they actually try — and it doesn't involve trying to out-woke the Left.

Republicans have made gains with Hispanic voters in Texas and Florida. They’ve made gains with black men in every presidential election cycle since 2008. All of those years of right-wing pundits warning that the “browning” of America would give Democrats a permanent majority were always destined to be wrong. Now, we’re seeing it.

Democrats are clearly worried as well. All of those years of dreaming about demographic inevitability, as if voting for Democrats was genetically tied to melanin. Nowhere was this delusion more apparent than the year-in, year-out prophecy of a “blue Texas,” in which Democrats and the media wistfully wondered if this time it would finally come true. As evidenced by the results in Texas last November and in McAllen now, the dream has crashed and burned once again.

Conservatism transcends race. This is obvious whenever Republicans actually try to compete in historically Democratic areas. While Democrats are now doubling down on the notion that race is what defines Americans, Republicans can continue to pick up victories in areas like McAllen, as long as they’re willing to put the effort in.

Hispanics are actually much more conservatives than Democrat politicians.  And it is not just men.  Hispanic young women have become active in the Republican party too.  Most of these border Hispanics are not immigrants.  Their families have long roots in the Valley.  They are very patriotic.  What Democrats in Washington may not know is that Hispanic Texans fought for Texas independence from Mexico.  Several Texas towns are named after Hispanic heroes of the Texas revolution.  They are also very business oriented and work hard.