1. WSJ: Is Trump Creating New Republicans?
Much of the media is trying to persuade Latinos to dislike the GOP but it’s a tougher sale than expected.
Much of the media is trying to persuade Latinos to dislike the GOP but it’s a tougher sale than expected.
2. Media and the Democrats thought that President Trump’s rhetoric and policies around immigration, especially the issue of separating children from their parents at the border, would be a catalyst for higher Latino engagement in 2018.
3. At this point, however, recent polling by New York Times Upshot/Siena College and Monmouth University, suggests that’s not the case. Look at these examples.
4. In California’s 39th district — a racially diverse district that Hillary Clinton carried 52 to 43 percent — a Monmouth poll out this week found Republican Young Kim leading Democrat Gil Cisneros 46-42 percent.
5. Meanwhile on the right coast of the country, it seems that voters are also stubbornly refusing to play the roles they’ve been assigned in the conventional media narrative. Let us look at a few races.
6. In a district Hillary Clinton carried with almost 57 percent, Republican Carlos Curbelo (FL-26) has a narrow lead over his Democratic opponent in the NY Times Upshot/Siena poll.
7. And in the 27th district, where moderate GOPer Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring, private polls show former Clinton administration HHS Director Donna Shalala struggling to open a lead in a district Clinton carried by more than 58 percent.
8. In the sprawling southern Texas 23rd district — a district that is more than 70 percent Latino and voted narrowly for Clinton in 2016, Republican Rep. Will Hurd had a solid 51-43 percent lead over his Democratic opponent in the latest NY Times Upshot/Siena poll.
9. Finally, in the Los Angeles County 25th CD, a district that is majority minority and which Clinton won with 50 percent of the vote in 2016, the NY Times Upshot/Siena poll found Republican Steve Knight with a narrow lead over his Democratic opponent.
10. What about the middle of the country? This week the Texas Monthly reports that expected Hispanic support for Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke & Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lupe Valdez , who’s running against Republican Gov Greg Abbott, hasn’t met expectations.
11. A new Quinnipiac University poll on Tuesday—the first this season to measure sentiment among likely voters in Texas instead of simply registered voters—shows that Hispanics actually prefer Abbott to Valdez.
12. The second development this week may be a bit more troubling for O’Rourke: the election of a Republican in a district that has been solidly Democratic for 139 years, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
13. Republican Pete Flores won a stunning upset victory over well-known Democrat Pete Gallego in a San Antonio special election. This marks the first time a Hispanic Republican has been elected to the Texas Senate and the first time the Senate has had 21 Republican senators.
14. You won't hear much about this from the liberal mainstream media which acts as a cheerleader for the Democratic Party. But interesting things are happening out there which have interesting implications not only for the midterm elections, but also for the long term.
The End
The End
