Democrats are finally starting to feel the consequences of their disastrous border policies, as a Republican has just been elected in a longtime Democrat stronghold.
For the first time in a long time, McAllen, Texas will have a Republican mayor. McCallen, a major border city in Texas, is approximately 85% Hispanic, and is part of a county that has voted for Democrat presidential candidates by wide margins for decades.
A Republican city commissioner, Javier Villalobos, won the run-off mayoral election on June 5 by just 206 votes, beating fellow city commissioner Veronica Vela Whitacre. He will succeed Democrat Jim Darling as mayor of McAllen.
“It was a tight one, so I congratulate my opponent,” Villalobos said about the race, according to the Progress Times. “It was a very well run campaign. But we’re very glad and fortunate that we prevailed.”
This election shows that the momentum Republicans have gained in southern Texas is not slowing down.
According to reporting by The Blaze, “In the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump made significant inroads with voters along the U.S.-Mexico border, which indicated that south Texas voters are souring on Democratic policies and Democratic politicians who assume their support.”
In Hidalgo County, where McAllen is located, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by more than 40% in 2016. This drastic shift in just a few years shows how much voters in the area dislike the Democrats’ radical shift.
For every two Karens the GOP lost in Fort Worth and Houston, they gained a Juan in the RGV
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) June 6, 2021
According to Democrat Representative Henry Cuellar, who represents a district on the border with Mexico, said in an interview with the Texas Tribune that even though south Texas residents typically support Democrats, they are similar to the demographic of Americans that supported Trump.
“Aside from Hispanic heritage, most of the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas have similar demographics to Trump’s strongholds in rural communities across the country,” Cuellar told the news outlet. “It’s homogenous, deeply religious, pensively patriotic, socially conservative, and it’s hurting economically.”
Democrat Representative Vicente Gonzalez, who represents the district that includes McAllen, agrees with Cuellar’s assessment. “Hispanics, especially Mexican Americans, they like this machismo, bravado, lucha libre-style politics — it’s like all-star wrestling, Trump style,” he said. “It fits perfectly with the South Texas, Tejano person.”
The obvious answer to this drastic shift in southern Texas is illegal immigration. Even the former Democrat mayor had to admit it, telling USA Today that McAllen received the “brunt” of the surge in illegal immigration because of its location.
Democrats are now sounding the alarm about their potential losses in Texas.
“Democrats have a big problem in Texas,” Democrat Rep. Filemon Vela said in January. “For the first time in generations, or maybe ever, we lost … South Texas counties with significant Hispanic populations. And we are going to have to … wrap our arms around exactly why that happened. It may be a difficult issue to reconcile.”
The left has been claiming for years that it is close to flipping Texas blue, but it seems that they have been proven wrong.
