Peach Tree Times

Hispanic voters nationwide are switching from the Democrat party to the Republican party; that is true in Georgia, as well.

It is not shocking, GOP officials said in a Twitter post in August.

"It is no surprise Hispanics are moving to the Republican party," the Twitter post read. "Democrats have proven time and time again to be out of touch, and their values do not align with the Latino community."

The Twitter post included a link to an article posted by Florida's Voice. The article detailed the experience of Caroline Castillo, a self-described previous hardcore Democrat. Castillo joined the Republican party after frustrations regarding the Democrat party.

"The problem I have with Democrats is that they say one thing and they mean another, therefore doing the opposite of what they said," Castillo said in the article.

Castillo was a ghostwriter "for some Democratic politicians," according to Florida's Voice. These politicians supported Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's official president rather than Nicolas Maduro. Castillo said she was appalled by what occurred after President Joe Biden was elected president of the U.S.

"Now, all of a sudden, Juan Gonzalez from the Biden administration, who was a Colombian progressive hypocrite, goes and shakes hands with Maduro and starts talking about oil," she said. "So, I feel that the hypocrisy and the betrayals have just been much more than I can bear."

Castillo is an immigrant who was born in Bogotá, Colombia, Florida's Voice reported. She called the Biden administration's policies with Venezuela and Cuba "a betrayal to Latinos."

"The Biden/Harris administration negotiating with the Cuban and Venezuelan regimes and delisting the FARC [the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia] as a terrorist group in Colombia was devastating," Castillo said. "We take these issues seriously in south Florida. Plus, Democrats are doing away with basic social and economic freedoms that we should have as Americans."

Castillo said she believes that Democrats lack an understanding of what Hispanic voters really care about, according to Florida's Voice.

"Hispanics are mostly conservative," she said. "We are traditional; we love family and God. The radicalization of the Democrat party has turned off Hispanics, and it's responsible for helping Hispanics register [as] Independent and Republican."

Castillo said the Democrat party misses the mark on crime and the southern border and its support for pro-LGBTQ rights, Florida's Voice reported. She supports Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R-FL) so-called Don’t Say Gay law.

"The [Democrat] party is unrecognizable," she said. "They've all been radicalized. So, I had to leave. They don't represent my values."

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in September that Latino voters who previously called themselves Democrats now are "split along economic lines." Many Latino voters who voted for Democrats in 2020 plan to vote for Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. The WSJ also reported that Latinos are the fastest-growing population of voters in the U.S., representing more than 10% of the vote in 2020. Working-class Latinos are moving away from the Democrat party because they are unhappy with Biden's policies and they no longer feel aligned with Democrats.

Working-class Latinos switched over to the Republican Party by 11 points, according to The Wall Street Journal. They view the economic boom under former President Donald Trump's administration more favorably than the inflation and rising costs they said occurred under the Biden administration. Many Latino voters are frustrated with Democrat promises that do not come to fruition, and they are more likely to support strict border security laws to fight the influx of illegal drugs and human trafficking that occurs at the U.S./Mexico border.

Hispanic voters who are seeking citizenship do not feel that Democrats are providing them with solutions, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mike Madrid, a political consultant who focuses on Hispanic voting, agreed with Carlos Odio, co-founder of Equis Research, that there is a shift among Latino working-class voters from blue to red because Democrats have not followed up on economic promises. Odio said this feeling among Latino voters "should really give Democrats the most pause here."

The Washington Examiner staff said in an opinion/editorial article (the day after the Wall Street Journal's article was published) that Hispanics in Texas are moving towards the Republican party due to the Biden administration's border policies. The op/ed referred to a Texas Tribune poll that found that 57% of Texas Hispanics and 60% of south Texas Hispanics support more border security and that 61% of Texas Hispanics are "bothered by the direction" the Democrat party is heading.

The Washington Examiner staff blamed Biden's ending of the Trump-era so-called Remain in Mexico policy for the record number of people entering the U.S. illegally.

"As in the late 1960s, it [the Democrat party] is on a collision course with ethnic minorities who did so much to prop it up over the years in the mistaken belief that Democrats had something to offer working families," the Washington Examiner staff said in the op/ed.

The election of Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Kingsville) is widely seen as part of the shift of Hispanic voters to the GOP. Flores is a Trump-endorsed Republican who won a special election in June to become the first Mexican-born woman to gain a seat in Congress. She represents Texas' historically Democratic 34th district, which voted blue in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections. The district is 84.5% Hispanic, and Flores is running for a full term in the midterm election in November, according to Ballotpedia.

A NALEO [National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials] Educational Fund press release issued in February estimated that 11.6 million Latinos will vote in November. Almost 10% of voters will be Latino – a 34.1% increase since 2014.

A UnidosUS poll conducted by BSP Research and published in August found that 59% of Hispanic voters in Georgia believe that the U.S. is on the wrong track and that inflation, the economy, and crime are top priorities for Hispanic voters in the state.