Hispanics are now evenly split between GOP, Democrat Party?

You wouldn’t know it by the looks of the Rio Grande Valley, but according to a Dec. 9 Wall Street Journal story, Hispanics in the U.S. are now evenly split — half say they’ll vote Republican; the other half remain Democrat.

For years, or so it seems, it’s been at least an 80-20 percent split, maybe even more, thanks in large part to the JFK presidency and the Democrat-supported Voting Rights Act of 1964, which eliminated the dreaded Poll Tax.

For a lot of Hispanics, voting for a presidential candidate who was Catholic, not to mention charismatic, meant something. At least that’s what you hear from some local Hispanics who grew up during the 1960s and ‘70s when real equality was starting to take root. Even though the Democrat Party controlled Texas when real segregation was evident at both the state and local levels, they still captured the Hispanic vote as the modern era unfolded.

According to a Wikipedia survey, in 2018, Hispanics leaned Democrat 70% to 30%. The notch has moved up even higher since then. The WSJ story is dated Dec. 8, and has this headline: “Hispanic Voters Now Evenly Split Between Parties…Republicans have made rapid gains among a crucial voting demographic that has long favored the Democrats.”

Hispanic voters account for approximately 1 in 8 of eligible voters and are one of the fastest-growing groups in the electorate. (Source: WSJ.) Lately, multiple surveys and polls show this demographic evenly split between the two parties.

Interesting point in the WSJ story — the lines are split to some degree along gender lines. “A majority of Hispanic men said they would like to return to the policies that Mr. Trump pursued as president, while a majority of Hispanic women said they would rather stick to Mr. Biden’s policies.”

As could and still can be seen in Hidalgo County, there are still a lot of (relatively speaking) pickup trucks out there waving Trump flags. Pro-Trump groups still get together, still nodding their heads in agreement whenever someone says, “The election was stolen. Can’t argue that. No doubt about it.”

So, as the Wall Street Journal Dec. 9 story points out, written by Aaron Zitner, the Hispanic males have gravitated toward the Republican Party largely as a result of Trump’s charisma. Never before were there car/ truck caravans driving around McAllen, the county, with Trump flags waving, like some great movement, even months after the November 2020 election had concluded, which suggests The Donald may have done more for the Republican Party in terms of attracting more Hispanics to it than any GOP leader who has come before.

In Hidalgo County, though, the Republican and Democrat primaries set for March 2022 don’t show much forward movement on the part of Republicans.

Out of 20 county offices up for election, the Republicans are fielding only four — County judge (two candidates); DA (one candidate); county clerk (one candidate); and JP Precinct 4, Place 2 (one candidate).