Economic discontent and illegal immigration were the tipping points
the most Latino county in the country — where 98% of the population is Hispanic — voted for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in 132 years. Overnight, this land of ranches, poor neighborhoods — the average income, at $41,000 (€38,000), is approximately half the national average, and 30% of the population lives below the poverty line, three times more than in the rest of the country — and a tradition of ironclad control by the local Democratic Party machinery, became international news.
Naturally, Toni Trevino, 67, the County Chair of the Republican Party, was not surprised by the result. “For two years I have thought that if Donald Trump was the candidate, he was going to win here, from what I heard among the people.” She says that the main reason he won, as in the rest of the country, is economic discontent.
The Republican’s promise to close the border to illegal immigration was also decisive in the local vote. In an area that in recent years has grown accustomed to seeing hundreds of undocumented migrants crossing every day and every night — “although they don’t stay because, when they cross the river, they look around and see that there is nothing for them” — a strong position on immigration is seen as common sense. Even local Democratic candidates support completely stopping the flow of undocumented migrants.
english.elpais.com
the most Latino county in the country — where 98% of the population is Hispanic — voted for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time in 132 years. Overnight, this land of ranches, poor neighborhoods — the average income, at $41,000 (€38,000), is approximately half the national average, and 30% of the population lives below the poverty line, three times more than in the rest of the country — and a tradition of ironclad control by the local Democratic Party machinery, became international news.
Naturally, Toni Trevino, 67, the County Chair of the Republican Party, was not surprised by the result. “For two years I have thought that if Donald Trump was the candidate, he was going to win here, from what I heard among the people.” She says that the main reason he won, as in the rest of the country, is economic discontent.
The Republican’s promise to close the border to illegal immigration was also decisive in the local vote. In an area that in recent years has grown accustomed to seeing hundreds of undocumented migrants crossing every day and every night — “although they don’t stay because, when they cross the river, they look around and see that there is nothing for them” — a strong position on immigration is seen as common sense. Even local Democratic candidates support completely stopping the flow of undocumented migrants.
The most Latino county in the United States, where naming Reagan was a sin, jumps on the Trump Train
After more than a century of ironclad Democratic control, Starr County in Texas has voted for a Republican president for the first time due to economic discontent and the immigration crisis
