Democrats fight to win back Latino voters who are key to flipping the House

The left has been losing ground with Latinos since 2016.

Two years back, President Donald Trump made gains with Latinos that were decisive to his victory. Now, with conflict overseas and high costs, Democrats are eyeing key House races that have significant Latino populations that are essential for a House majority.

Trump's net approval rating among Hispanic voters has suffered since he took office for his second term. A June 2026 Fox News poll found Trump underwater by 38 percentage points, with 31% of Latino voters approving of how he was handling his job as president and 69% disapproving. In March 2025 , he was down by only 11 points with the group, with 44% approving and 55% disapproving.

But strategists warn that Democrats need to give voters something to vote for , not just something to vote against.

ABC News spoke to the campaigns of seven candidates running in Latino-heavy battlegrounds to hear how they are targeting voters.

Economic concerns pushing Latinos against incumbents

Mike Madrid, a Republican consultant who studies Latino voters, said regional and national-origin differences among working class voters -- Cubans in Florida, Dominicans in New Jersey, Puerto Ricans in New York and Mexican Americans in California and Texas -- are collapsing under one shared issue: the economy.

"Both parties just devolve into these petty, irrelevant cultural battles that are not speaking to anybody's concerns. What you end up with is Latinos voting against whoever is in power and punishing them for the economic issues that aren't being addressed," Madrid added.

JoAnna Mendoza, a Marine Corps veteran, is challenging Rep. Juan Ciscomani in Arizona's 6th District, which Trump won by less than a point in 2024.

"Latinos have felt like we're not listened to, we feel forgotten, especially in our rural communities as well," Mendoza said.

Manny Rutinel, the Democrat running against Rep. Gabe Evans in Colorado's 8th District, said that being raised by a single Latina mother, working at McDonald's and selling plasma more than 100 times as a teenager to help support his family is a core part of his message.

"This is a deeply personal fight to make sure to fight for working people," Rutinel said.

Asked if high costs will turn Latino voters away from him, Evans said, "I voted to make overtime tax-free ... The other side is putting fees on energy production ... Democrat-led policies in Colorado have made Colorado more expensive and less reliable in terms of affordability, grid, utilities."

In Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, home to a large Puerto Rican and Dominican population, Democrat Bob Brooks is running to oust Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.

"People are getting crushed by rising prices, and they want a fighter who will shake up Washington and make life more affordable," Brooks campaign manager Jenna Kaufman said.

Democrats, who have lost ground with Latinos since 2016, believe the passage of Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill" -- legislation that is set to result in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits -- will also be key.

In California's Central Valley, where Medicaid covers at least half of all Latino residents, Randy Villegas is challenging Rep. David Valadao. He said that the residents in his district will drive across the border to Tijuana for cheaper medical work.

"How is it that Mexico has universal health care, and many of our families are going to a different country to get cheaper, more affordable health care?" Villegas said.

In a South Texas border district that was carried by Trump in 2024, former federal prosecutor Eric Flores is challenging Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez.

Flores, who would represent a district with a significant amount of ranches and farms, said a core issue he's focused on is water, citing the recent closure of one of the area's largest sugar mills, which resulted in hundreds of jobs lost.

"We're not focused on these national headlines," Flores said. "We're focused on what's going on down here in South Texas. We need water, better infrastructure, better jobs."

Limits of hardline rhetoric on immigration

Florida GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, who is running to defend her Miami-Dade seat, said the administration's mass deportation program has "gone too far" and that her party needs to "wake up."

"ICE should have only concentrated on those people who have a criminal record ... Everything is out of fear, and I'm tired of it because it's time for us to keep that voting bloc that voted for the president in 2024."

Earlier this week, ICE agents fatally shot 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, after agents tried to stop the car he was driving. Guerrero, a Colombian national, was not the target of the operation, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told ABC News.

Less than a week before that, an ICE enforcement officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, during a traffic stop in Houston. A Department of Homeland Security official told ABC News that Araujo was not the original subject in an immigration enforcement operation.

Unlike some Democrats who've called to "abolish ICE," these candidates are instead pushing for comprehensive immigration reform.

Mendoza, who would represent a border state, said, "As someone who served 20 years in the Marine Corps ... national security, particularly homeland, is a top priority for me. I'm a mom too, so I want safe communities."

She also argued the administration's tariff policy and other conflicts have strained the U.S.-Mexico relationship needed to address cartels and drug trafficking.

"We have to do more than just talk, we have to deliver on comprehensive immigration reform immediately ... Our DACA recipients have now been in legal limbo for over a decade," Villegas added.

Outreach: Doors vs. the phone

Democratic organizers "will knock and talk to somebody for 20 minutes once a month," while "Republicans are talking to them eight hours a day on their phones," said Madrid, who argued many Democrats still assume most Latinos lean left, missing a decade of change in an electorate that is now more U.S.-born.

To address this, the campaigns describe outreach strategies that mix old and new.

Mendoza and Rutinel described leaning on Spanish-language media -- ad buys, media interviews, social content and appearances at churches holding Spanish-language services -- paired with a bilingual door-knocking team.

Villegas, who would represent the most Latino district in California, hosted a World Cup watch party at a Latin American restaurant, canvassed with roses and pupusas on Mexican Mother's Day and distributed bilingual literature across a district that is predominantly Mexican American.

Madrid warned that traditional politicking may not be enough, pointing to the 2024 results when despite outspending Republicans on ground operations and advertising budgets in an unprecedented and early fashion, the party bled support among Latino voters.

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