拉美裔选民在2024年因向右转向而助力特朗普总统当选，周二却帮助民主党重夺国会两院控制权，对共和党的支持出现惊人逆转。这种转变发生在全国范围内，在得克萨斯州尤为明显，被视为一群美国人对总统及其政党的谴责——他们眼睁睁看着家人和邻居被移民执法人员拘留，同时生活成本飙升。
Latino voters, whose swing to the right aided President Trump's election in 2024, helped Democrats reclaim both chambers of Congress on Tuesday in a stunning reversal of support for Republicans. The shift, which transpired nationwide but was especially pronounced in Texas, is seen as a rebuke of the president and his party by a group of Americans who have watched as their families and neighbors were detained by immigration agents while their cost of living shot up.
“特朗普总统要求选民假装他在选票上，我们的观察是，拉美裔选民确实照做了，强烈拒绝他的极端政策和行动，以及任何为其背书的人，”总部位于华盛顿的拉美裔民权和倡导组织“团结美国”（UnidosUS）主席珍妮特·穆尔吉亚（Janet Murguía）说。“虽然数据仍在统计中，但目前所知表明，这无疑将成为中期选举历史上拉美裔选民投票率最高的一次。”她补充道。
"President Trump asked voters to pretend like he was on the ballot, and our observation is that Latino voters did just by that, resoundingly rejecting his extreme policies and actions and anyone who rubber-stamped them," said Janet Murguía, president of UnidosUS, a Washington-based Latino civil rights and advocacy group. "While the numbers are still coming in, what we know so far indicates that this will undoubtedly be the largest turnout of Latino voters ever in a midterm election," she added.
“团结美国”周三发布了一项民调结果，该民调由总部位于洛杉矶的分析公司BSP Research对3000多名在中期选举中投票的拉美裔选民进行。结果显示，许多拉美裔选民是独立的摇摆选民——2024年投票给特朗普的选民中有17%在本次选举中支持民主党众议院候选人。
UnidosUS on Wednesday released findings from a poll, conducted by the Los Angeles-based analytics firm BSP Research, of more than 3,000 Latinos who voted in the midterm elections. The findings showed many Latinos are independent, swing voters — 17% of 2024 Trump voters supported Democratic House candidates in this election.
BSP Research主席加里·塞古拉（Gary Segura）周三在与穆尔吉亚和记者的电话会议上表示，拉美裔选民在本次选举中回归历史模式，约三分之二投票给民主党，三分之一投票给共和党。2024年，特朗普赢得了超过40%的拉美裔选票，许多选民受其降低物价承诺的激励。今年，民调发现，生活成本和通胀是拉美裔选民关注的首要问题，超过半数受访者指出食品和杂货费用是特别负担，并表示每月无钱结余或难以支付账单。
Gary Segura, president of BSP Research, said on a call Wednesday with Murguía and reporters that Latino voters returned this election to historic patterns, with about two-thirds voting for Democrats and one-third voting Republican. In 2024, Trump won more than 40% of Latino votes, many motivated by his promises to reduce prices. This year, cost of living and inflation are by far Latino voters' top concerns, the poll found, with more than half citing food and grocery costs as particular burdens and saying they have no money left over each month or struggle to pay bills.
移民问题也是一个因素，90%的拉美裔选民支持平衡的移民制度，四分之一的人将ICE（美国移民与海关执法局）和移民改革列为仅次于生活成本的前三大议题。“昨天出现在选票上的共和党候选人真的在努力逆流而上，对抗一个在各项议题上都面临这种不满的政府，”塞古拉说。共和党策略师吉安卡洛·索波表示，右翼回声室不理解，当拉美裔听到“犯罪非法移民”时，他们脑海中浮现的是帮派成员或逃避边境巡逻队的人。
Immigration was also a factor, with 90% of Latino voters supporting a balanced immigration system and a quarter of them naming ICE and immigration reform as among their top three issues, following cost of living. "The Republican candidates on the ballot yesterday were really struggling to swim upstream against an administration with this kind of disapproval across issues," Segura said. GOP strategist Giancarlo Sopo said right-wing echo chambers didn't understand that when Latinos hear "criminal illegals" they picture gang members or people who evaded Border Patrol.
“但绝大多数没有合法身份的移民并没有游过格兰德河，”他在社交媒体的一篇帖子中写道。“将偷渡者与寻求庇护者、在错综复杂的系统中挣扎的签证逾期居留者混为一谈，正在让西班牙裔感到反感。”在得克萨斯州，圣安东尼奥附近和边境沿线拉美裔占多数的选区的选民帮助民主党人打破了共和党长期以来对该州的控制，赢得了州长、副州长和参议员的竞选。
"But the vast majority of immigrants without legal status did not swim the Rio Grande," he wrote in a post on social media. "Conflating people who sneak in with asylum applicants and visa overstayers working through a labyrinthine system is turning off Hispanics." In Texas, voters in majority-Latino districts near San Antonio and along the border helped Democrats break Republicans' longstanding grip on the state to win the races for governor, lieutenant governor and senator.
詹姆斯·塔拉里科战胜共和党总检察长肯·帕克斯顿，标志着自1988年以来民主党人首次在得克萨斯州赢得参议员席位。NBC出口民调显示，61%的拉美裔男性——特朗普曾在他们中间取得特别进展——投票给了塔拉里科。投出选票的人中包括罗纳尔多·萨尔加多，他是洛伦佐·萨尔加多·阿劳霍的儿子，后者在休斯顿被移民与海关执法局特工杀害。
James Talarico's victory against Republican Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton marks the first time a Democrat has won a Senate seat in Texas since 1988. NBC exit polling shows that 61% of Latino men, with whom Trump had made particular inroads, voted for Talarico. Among those casting his ballot was Ronaldo Salgado, the son of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Houston.
他在周一告诉MSNOW，他将“我已投票”贴纸贴在了为父亲设立的纪念碑上。“我投票时总是想着父母，想着家人，但今年的投票分量绝对重得多，”他说。“投完票我哭了，因为我是为了纪念我的父亲而投的。”南得克萨斯州特哈诺歌手博比·普利多的竞选策略包括在十五岁生日庆典上表演，他以超过20个百分点的优势击败了共和党现任众议员莫妮卡·德拉克鲁兹。
He told MSNOW on Monday that he had placed his "I Voted" sticker on a memorial dedicated to his father. "I always vote with my parents in mind, with my family in mind, but this year's vote is definitely with much heavier weight on it," he said. "I cried as I was casting my vote because I was doing it in honor of my dad." Bobby Pulido, a South Texas Tejano singer whose campaign strategy included performing at quinceañeras, beat Republican incumbent Rep. Monica De La Cruz by more than 20 percentage points.
德拉克鲁兹是那些向白宫发出警告的关键选区共和党人之一，他们要求移民与海关执法局（ICE）应将重点放在罪犯身上，而非守法民众。
De La Cruz was among the battleground Republicans to warn the White House that ICE should focus on criminals and not law-abiding people.
拉美裔选民告诉BSP Research的民调人员，两党——尤其是民主党——在本轮选举周期中比以往更积极地接触他们。即使在民主党未能获胜的选区，拉美裔选票也让一些竞争变得胶着。在佛罗里达州，共和党参议员阿什利·穆迪以微弱优势赢得连任，众议员玛丽亚·埃尔维拉·萨拉查保持微弱领先，拉美裔选民同样出现了向左转移的趋势。
Latino voters told the BSP Research pollsters that both parties, but especially Democrats, reached out to them more in this election cycle than in the past. Even in districts where Democrats did not prevail, Latino votes made some races tight. In Florida, where Republican Sen. Ashley Moody narrowly won reelection and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar holds a slim lead, Latinos also shifted left.
多拉尔是迈阿密附近的一个市镇，拥有全美最高浓度的委内瑞拉裔人口，该地在2024年支持特朗普领先副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯23个百分点。周二，多拉尔选民以3个百分点的优势选择了穆迪的竞争对手、美国民主社会主义者成员安吉·尼克松。根据美联社出口民调，全国范围内，约60%的拉美裔选民在当地众议院竞选中选择了民主党候选人。
Doral, a municipality near Miami with the highest concentration of Venezuelans in the country, favored Trump in 2024 by 23 percentage points over Vice President Kamala Harris. On Tuesday, Doral voters chose Moody's competitor, Angie Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, by 3 percentage points. Nationally, about 6 in 10 Latino voters opted for the Democratic candidate in their local House race, according to an Associated Press exit poll.
这次中期选举对拉美裔当选官员的代表性也至关重要。在拉美裔居民最多的两个州，吉娜·伊诺霍萨成为德克萨斯州历史上首位当选的拉美裔女州长，哈维尔·贝塞拉成为加利福尼亚州150多年来首位拉美裔州长。国会西班牙裔核心小组宣布，新一届国会将至少拥有55名成员，创下该核心小组50年历史上最大规模。
The midterm was also pivotal for Latino representation among elected officials. In the two states with the most Latino residents, Gina Hinojosa became the first Latina elected governor in Texas, and Xavier Becerra is California's first Latino governor in more than 150 years. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus announced that it will have at least 55 members in the new Congress, making it the largest membership in the caucus's 50-year history.
“我们的代表性在增强，我们的声音更响亮，没有人能再视拉美裔选民为理所当然，”核心小组领导人在一份声明中写道。
"Our representation is growing, our voices are stronger, and no one can afford to take Latino voters for granted," caucus leaders wrote in a statement.
但仅有代表性是不够的，拉美社区基金会首席执行官胡利安·卡斯特罗表示。拉美裔将关注他们的选票如何转化为惠及那些信任并帮助选出这些领导人的民众的政策变化。
But representation alone won't cut it, said Julián Castro, chief executive of the Latino Community Foundation. Latinos will look to how their votes translate into policy changes that benefit those who trusted the leaders they helped elect.
“他们将在负担能力问题上做什么？”他在与“美国团结”（UnidosUS）的通话中说道。“他们将在反腐败和根除腐败方面做什么？”
"What are they going to do about affordability?" he said on the call with UnidosUS. "What are they going to do about corruption and rooting that out?
“他们打算如何终止移民与海关执法局（ICE）的滥职与残暴，并推行更平衡的移民政策？”众议员罗伯特·加西亚（民主党-长滩）承认民主党肩负的责任。他极有可能成为下一任众议院监督与政府改革委员会主席。他对 MeidasTouch News 表示：“今晚最大的新闻之一，是拉美裔选民正在大幅度地重新将信任交还给民主党。……我们必须兑现对抗 ICE 的承诺。我们必须兑现通过真正的移民解决方案和改革的承诺。”
What are they going to do about ending ICE abuse and cruelty and pursuing a more balanced approach on immigration?" Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), who is likely to become the next chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, acknowledged the responsibility that Democrats have. "One of the big stories coming out of tonight is the enormous swing that Latino voters are now re-entrusting Democrats on," he told MeidasTouch News. "...We have to deliver on taking on ICE. We have to deliver on passing real immigration solutions and reform."