The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is rethinking its messaging strategy after a crushing election that shifted a huge chunk of Latino voters to former President Donald Trump.
The group, which worked hand-in-hand with the Kamala Harris campaign, said it’s crafting a better economic message to help Democrats regain support in key regions of the country.
“Hispanic families, in particular, are saying everything is really expensive,” Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) told us. “They felt like we weren’t paying attention… what we don’t handle well is the cost of living and that really hurt us.”
Trump, who ran on hardline immigration and border security proposals, did 14 points better with Hispanic voters than he did in 2020. Trump took 46% of voters identifying as Hispanic. It was the highest level of support for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004.
The numbers are alarming for House Democrats, who were already struggling with the Biden administration’s unpopularity among Hispanics for months before the election. We reported extensively on tension points between the CHC and President Joe Biden before he withdrew from the White House race.
Sources close to CHC have also complained that Democrats have treated Hispanics as too much of a monolith. Trump, who has made significant gains among Cuban Americans in recent years, also made inroads in Puerto Rican-heavy areas in Pennsylvania and with Mexican-Americans in south Texas.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) argued that Democrats should’ve resurrected Trump’s comments from the 2016 presidential campaign where he referred to Mexican immigrants crossing the border as “rapists” and “murderers.”
“I didn’t see a single ad or a single mouthpiece quoting those things,” Gonzalez told us. “I think that would have resonated. Some consultant fumbled there.”
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), who is poised to serve as the next CHC chair, said Democrats also need to recognize the grievances of struggling Hispanic men.
“It’s critical for us to be better messengers and for us to listen to Latinos in general, but particularly Latino men,” Espaillat said.
Meanwhile, CHC Chair Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) noted that some of Trump’s gains have been taken out of context, but she acknowledged the group needs a fresh start.
“There’s a lot of work we’ve got to do,” Barragán told us. “We’ve got to continue engagement. We got to take people seriously. Frankly, a lot of it is how people feel. It’s how people feel and us having to listen.”
To flip the script, CHC’s campaign arm BOLD PAC celebrated adding six new Hispanic members to their ranks, as well as holding on to most of their vulnerable incumbents. BOLD PAC transferred $6.15 million for independent expenditures to support incumbents and candidates — the largest investment ever made by the group.
CHC members are expected to hold a press conference on Friday to tout those wins.
In other House Dem news: Rep.-elect Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) is running for freshman class representative. Elfreth will succeed retiring Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and won an expensive primary this spring over former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn.
Elfreth said in a letter to colleagues that her history of winning a competitive Maryland Senate seat gives her experience to effectively represent Frontline members.
