A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
In Texas, a Republican effort to redraw the state's congressional map to benefit their party makes an assumption about Latino voters. It bets that Latino Texas voters will vote Republican with the same enthusiasm they did in last year's presidential election, when exit polling showed more than half went for Donald Trump. But recent polling suggests that might now be a riskier bet. To understand why, I'm joined now by someone who tracks Latino voters closely. Clarissa Martinez de Castro is vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative with UnidosUS.
So earlier this week, Clarissa, the Pew Research Center released a poll showing that 70% of Latinos disapprove of President Trump's performance in office. And your organization, of course, does its own polling. Are you seeing a similar trend?
CLARISSA MARTINEZ DE CASTRO: Indeed. We did a bipartisan poll of Hispanic voters at the 100-day mark of the new administration and one year out from the 2026 election, so just earlier this month. And certainly, I believe that Hispanic voters are screaming at the top of their lungs that what Congress and the president need to do is raise wages and lower prices. And two-thirds of them, nationally and in Texas, believe that neither the president nor the Republican majority in Congress are paying enough attention to improving the economy.
In addition, Latinos are feeling increasingly unsafe due to actions their own government is taking. So nearly two-thirds believe that civil rights and freedoms have eroded under this president. Nearly half are concerned that they or someone close to them can be a victim of political violence. And 4 in 10 say that in their communities, people fear being arrested for immigration reasons, even if they are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
MARTÍNEZ: How do you think those numbers stack up to what we might see in Texas, where, as we mentioned, Trump's support by Latinos broke records?
MARTINEZ DE CASTRO: I think Trump was able to increase support among almost every demographic, including significantly with Latinos, because of economic discontent. So economic discontent helped Biden beat Trump in 2020. It helped Trump beat Biden in 2024. And based on research, it is very clear that voters see that Trump and Republicans now own the economy. So that discontent may very well now be swinging against Republicans, and that's what they need to be paying attention to.
MARTÍNEZ: Last week, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito paused a lower court ruling that would have thrown out Texas Republicans' new maps. Now, speaking hypothetically, if the high court allows the new maps to stand, what would that mean for Texas Republicans' chances in the midterms?
MARTINEZ DE CASTRO: I think it's not as clear-cut as maybe those holding that pen to the map might have thought, right? I think that they're going to have to work hard to get these voters on the Republican column. And I think outreach is key, both to increase turnout in the midterm - frankly, another thing that Republicans may be banking on is that there's lower turnout in the midterm election. But I think turnout is the difference-maker, and so on the Democratic side, there's opportunity in terms of engaging these voters in whatever district they may fall.
MARTÍNEZ: Clarissa Martinez de Castro is vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative, UnidosUS. Clarissa, thanks.
MARTINEZ DE CASTRO: Thank you.
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