Thread by @TheValuesVoter

The Republicans made immigration and the border a central issue in the midterm elections.

So how did the people who are most immediately impacted by the border, those who live on it, vote during the midterms?

There are 23 counties across 4 states in America that border Mexico.

In 12 of those counties, the majority of the House vote went to Democrats.

In 11 of those counties, the majority of the House vote went to Republicans.

And the county vote might have gone 13-10 in favor of Democrats had Paul Gosar not run completely unopposed in #AZ09.

There are 14 House Districts which are partly in counties that border Mexico.

Democrats won 10 of them.

Republicans won 4 of them.

There were 2 U.S. Senate elections in states that border Mexico.

The Democrats won both of them.
cnn.com/election/2022/…

And there were Gubernatorial elections in all 4 of the states that border Mexico.

The Democrats won 3 out of the 4.
cnn.com/election/2022/…

The Republicans sought to make a case against the Democrats on the topic of immigration.

That didn't seem to work. In the parts of the country that lay directly on the U.S./Mexico border, the people there did not overwhelmingly vote for Republicans.

Also, if you look at the exit polls, immigration was not a top issue that drove the votes of voters in any of the competitive states. Including states on the border.

It never polled higher than the third most important issue anywhere that I can see.

Going a little deeper, the U.S. Counties that border Mexico have some of the same urban/rural political dynamics that are present in the rest of the country.

Democrats do well in densely populated places.

Republicans do well in places that are not very densely populated.

There are 11 counties bordering Mexico with populations of less than 50,000. Dems won the House vote in 3 of them. Republicans won the House vote in 8 of them.

There are 12 counties bordering Mexico with populations of 50,000+. Dems won the House vote in 9 of them. GOP won in 3.