Democrats are using their broad midterm wins to press for immigration reform, although polling suggests the economy mattered far more to Democratic and Hispanic voters.
The party made gains across the country, including in Texas districts redrawn to favor Republicans and in major Senate and gubernatorial races. Some newly elected Democrats say the results give them a mandate to oppose President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. They are also warning potential 2028 presidential candidates that reform should be a priority.
“Anyone seeking our support in ’28 has to put immigration reform first,” said Bobby Pulido, a Democrat who won a South Texas House seat from Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz. Pulido made the remarks at a news conference last Wednesday with other Texas Democrats.
Still, polling shows immigration ranked as a top issue for 27% of Republican voters but just 3% of Democrats.
Pulido won a district redrawn to lean Republican. De La Cruz had carried it by 14.2 points in 2024. He campaigned on affordability and argued that Trump’s workplace immigration raids were contributing to labor shortages and harming the economy.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat whose district includes the border city of Laredo, said voters who backed Trump in 2024 but supported Democrats in other races were responding to both rising costs and the administration’s immigration policies.
Cuellar said voters had expected Trump to lower prices quickly and felt that had not happened. He added that the administration’s enforcement efforts went beyond targeting criminals and affected construction workers, too.
An estimated 14.5 million Latinos voted in the 2026 midterms, according to UnidosUS. The group’s Texas director, Eric Holguín, said Democratic support among Latino voters was close to the level seen in 2008, when Barack Obama won the presidency.
Holguín said the cost of living was the leading concern for Latino voters in Texas and elsewhere. Pre-election polling by the Fox News Voter Poll found that 45% of Hispanic respondents named the economy as the country’s most important issue. The state of democracy came next, at 26%, followed by immigration at 15%.
The results were similar among Hispanic voters in Texas: 45% cited the economy as their top concern, 25% pointed to democracy and 15% chose immigration.
Holguín said voters were focused on everyday bills, from groceries to electricity and gas. He said many felt Trump had failed to deliver on his 2024 promises and that the war in Iran had made matters worse.
Trump has said the conflict hurt Republicans in the midterms. Fighting around the Strait of Hormuz disrupted oil supply chains and sent fuel prices higher.
Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said the results appeared to reflect frustration with Trump more than strong support for Democratic policies. Voters, he said, were unhappy that living costs had not fallen and that the United States was involved in more military conflicts than it had been under the Biden administration.
In a 60 Minutes interview, Trump said some of his deportation policies had been “too tough” and that an agreement with Democrats was possible.
Miguel Valenzuela, a Texas business owner who attended the Nov. 11 news conference with American Families United, said he had long warned Republicans that their immigration approach could drive away Hispanic voters who shared some of the party’s values.
Valenzuela, who does not consider himself a Democrat, pointed to the importance many Hispanic families place on family, faith and hard work. He said he had attended local Republican events and urged the party to take up immigration reform before losing voters who might otherwise support it.
He added that children of immigrants who had recently reached voting age were now making their views known at the ballot box, something he said he had warned Republicans about for years.
Holguín said Democrats should not assume Latino voters will remain with them without results. He said voters are watching closely and want significant changes in how government operates and delivers for the public.
The White House was asked for comment.
