What South Texas can teach the GOP about winning Hispanics

When I first ran for Congress in 2020, I was having lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in McAllen when a local big shot spotted me. With a grin, he made sure to tell me, “You’ll never get elected in this town as a Republican, Monica!” 

It stung, but he had a point. Hillary Clinton had won Hidalgo County — where over 90 percent of residents are Hispanic — by a 40-point landslide. Democrats were riding high, banking on huge margins in the Rio Grande Valley to turn Texas blue.

Well, today, I have the honor of representing one of America’s most heavily Hispanic districts in Congress. In my election, we swung Hidalgo by nearly 30 points. This year, we’re poised to build on that success. And former President Donald Trump is on track to have the best performance with Hispanic voters of any GOP presidential candidate in a generation. 

Who’s laughing now?

The Republican Party’s success in South Texas offers a clear blueprint for winning Hispanics: Leave philosophical debates for faculty lounges and focus on practical solutions that address the real challenges facing working families. 

Like all Americans, Hispanics want to prosper. That means safe neighborhoods, affordable living, secure borders and opportunities for our children and grandparents.

The economic reality is that Hispanic families have borne the brunt of the Biden-Harris administration’s runaway inflation. With larger households than any other group, every spike in food, gas and housing hits us harder.

Simply put, we have more mouths to feed and less money to do it — a far cry from when we led the nation in new small business and saw record-low poverty rates under President Trump.

As a former small business owner and a single mom, I know exactly how tough it can be to make ends meet. Our hard-won gains feel like they’re slipping away, and we need leaders who will help us get back on track. 

That’s why proposals from Trump and congressional leaders like me to lower taxes, cut red tape, and make energy affordable resonate so strongly — they offer a path to reclaim the opportunities we worked so hard to build just a few years ago.

Economic challenges aren’t the only issue on the minds of Hispanic families. For years, Democrats thought they could secure our votes by tugging at our heartstrings, playing on our compassion for migrants. But they overplayed their hand, and those strings have now snapped. Our community knows the immigration system better than anyone — nearly every Hispanic family has either navigated it themselves or knows someone who has. 

We can tell when the system is being manipulated, and we know the difference between those chasing a dream and those exploiting the cracks.

It should surprise no one that polls show Hispanics reject open borders and want a fair, secure immigration system. When Trump and congressional Republicans talk about enforcing the law and protecting the border we’re addressing real concerns that impact our neighborhoods. 

In Congress, I’ve helped carry that torch, achieving what no other representative from my community has accomplished in nearly two decades: Getting a border security bill signed into federal law. For South Texans and millions of Hispanics across America, this is about fairness and public safety.

While we’re working to secure the border, we also need to ensure families feel economically secure at home. In Hispanic culture, where abuelitos (grandparents) often live under the same roof or just around the corner, financial stability is essential. 

That’s why in South Texas, rather than waiting for Democrats to attack us on Social Security and Medicare, I have proactively campaigned on these issues and made them among my top legislative priorities. I have helped introduce legislation to safeguard these benefits because, having been raised by my abuelos and now seeing my mom through her retirement, I understand just how essential they are to families in my community.

The path forward for Republicans is clear, and South Texas is leading the way. By focusing on practical solutions — securing the border, restoring economic opportunity and protecting seniors' benefits — we can earn the trust of Hispanic voters. 

These aren’t abstractions — they reflect the real concerns and aspirations of millions of Hispanics who want to thrive and leave behind a better future for their children.

If we put the D.C. telenovela aside and stay focused on keeping our promises and delivering practical solutions, South Texas will remain at the forefront of this growing movement — one that will only grow stronger as more Hispanic voters join our Big Tent.

Rep. Monica De La Cruz is the first Latina and the first Republican to represent the 15th Congressional District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives.