This week, Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) penned an op-ed sharing that an “inconvenient truth” for Democrats is that the Hispanic demographic will align itself with the GOP in upcoming elections. “Democrat politicians, consultants and their defenders in the liberal media have pushed the narrative for decades that Democrats were building a permanent majority coalition,” he wrote. However, while Democrats ready themselves to expand their control of the House and the Senate, elections held over the weekend could indicate that Senator Scott may be on to something regarding the political landscape of the country as Republicans won two mayoral races in the state of Texas.
In the city of McAllen, Texas, voters chose presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D) by 40 points over President Donald Trump (R). McAllen is located in Hidalgo County, which voted for Clinton with over 40.5 percentage points. In the 2020 election, the County voted for President Joe Biden (D) with over 17 percentage points. However, over the weekend, McAllen elected a Republican Mayor in Javier Villalobos (R) who defeated Veronica Vela Whitacre by 206 points in a runoff election. The votes are set to be canvassed and certified by officials on June 14th.
There are 150,000 residents in McAllen, and 85 percent of the residents are Latino.
In response to Villalobos’ win, a number of GOP members celebrated the victory, including Ronna McDaniel (R), the Chair of the Republican National Committee, who expressed that the win indicated that voters are rejecting President Biden’s “failed policies.”
Fort Worth also saw Republican Mattie Parker (R) win the Mayoral race. Parker defeated Deborah Peoples (D), a former Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair and someone that had received endorsements from both Rep. Julian Castro (D) and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D).
On Twitter, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) celebrated the victories, expressing that “Republicans and Hispanics in Texas share common values, and more Hispanics are voting Republican and getting elected as Republicans.”
Republicans celebrate mayoral win in majority-Hispanic border city, McAllen, Texas.
Republicans and Hispanics in Texas share common values, and more Hispanics are voting Republican and getting elected as Republicans.
They want to help keep Texas Red.https://t.co/1lnze2cJ2z
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 7, 2021
In short, Abbott argues that “they want to help keep Texas Red.”
