In a striking shift from historical voting patterns, Donald Trump has claimed victory in Starr County, a region of Texas that has not seen a Republican presidential winner since the 19th century. According to CBS Austin, Trump turned the county red by a margin of approximately 16 percentage points, a stark contrast to the 2016 election when Hillary Clinton secured the county with a 60-point lead.
Trump's success in Starr County comes amid broader gains for Republicans along the Texas-Mexico border, a region that traditionally leaned Democratic. The former president managed to efficiently capitalize on a growing shift among Hispanic and Latino voters, pivoting some toward the Republican party. As the 2020 Census indicates that 98 percent of Starr County's population identifies as Hispanic or Latino, this change in voter sentiment carries significant weight. Trump voiced his triumph to a Florida watch party, saying, "It was a historic realignment. Uniting citizens of all backgrounds around a common core of common sense," a sentiment captured by CBS Austin.
Data provided by Fox4 News, reports that Trump garnered 57 percent of the vote compared to Kamala Harris's 41 percent, according to unofficial results from the Associated Press. This win in Starr County was part of a trend that also saw other border counties, which previously supported Joe Biden in 2020, turn to Trump in 2024 elections.
NBC News exit polls revealed that 55 percent of Hispanic and Latino voters in Texas opted to support Trump—a notable boost from the 2020 elections. Nationwide, the former president drew in 45 percent of that demographic, hinting at a burgeoning political shift. Trump's campaign rhetoric actively courted members of the Hispanic community, claiming at a rally that "nobody loves members of the Hispanic community, like Puerto Ricans, more than him," as reported by CBS Austin after he was criticized for a speaker's derogatory comments at his event.
The ripple effects of this shift were also observed in terms of gender demographics. Fox News Voter Analysis exit polling showed Trump up 8 percentage points with Latino men and 6 points with Latino women. This development underscores a significant realignment in the political landscape of Texas and potentially the nation, as the Lone Star State's border regions historically have been a Democratic stronghold.
