Latino voters swing back to Democrats in key battleground states
Exit polls show 60% of Hispanic voters supported Democratic House candidates in 2026, reversing a two-year trend.
By Julian Schulz ·
Democrats captured control of both chambers of Congress in the 2026 midterms by winning back Latino voters in districts that backed Donald Trump in 2024. The shift allowed the party to reclaim legislative power for the final two years of the current administration. This reversal marks a sharp departure from the previous cycle, when Republican support among this demographic surged.
In Texas, James Talarico won a Senate seat by carrying Bastrop and Bell counties. Trump won those areas by 18.4 and 16.2 percentage points, respectively, in the 2024 presidential election. Talarico also expanded the Democratic margin in Bexar County, a district where roughly 60% of the population is Hispanic. Kamala Harris defeated Trump there two years ago, and Talarico built on that base.
Down-ballot results in Texas showed similar patterns. In the 15th District, Bobby Pulido defeated Monica De La Cruz. Pulido led by 49.1 points in Hidalgo County, where Trump won by just 2.9 points in 2024. He also carried Brooks County by 45.6 points, an area where Harris had beaten the Republican candidate by 9.6 points previously.
Gabriel Vasquez secured re-election in New Mexico's second district, a southern area with a strong Hispanic presence. Trump carried this district by 1.8 points in 2024. In Colorado, Manny Rutinel regained the 8th District from Gabe Evans. This district, which has a Hispanic majority, had flipped to Republican hands two years ago when Evans beat Yadira Caraveo by less than one point. Trump had won the area by 1.8 points in 2024.
NBC News exit polls indicate that 60% of Latino voters supported Democratic candidates for the House in 2026. This figure exceeds the 51% who voted for Harris in 2024. Support for Republican candidates dropped to 35%, down from the 46% Trump received in the previous presidential election. The 2026 Democratic total matches the level seen in the 2022 legislative races, though it remains below the 69% recorded in 2018.
Florida presented the main exception to the Democratic trend, where Republicans won narrow victories. However, Democrats took three key districts with large Hispanic populations that Republicans had redistricted ahead of the usual decennial census update. In Miami-Dade County, Democratic support in Latino-majority precincts returned to levels similar to 2020. Juan Machado, director of analysis at Equis Research, noted that Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win the county since 1988 during the 2024 cycle.
Angie Nixon, the Democratic Socialist of America candidate for Senate in Florida, received 56% of the Latino vote according to NBC data. This support helped her stay within three percentage points of the winner, Republican Ashley Moody. The election results suggest a realignment in Latino voting behavior across the Sun Belt and Great Plains.
