Former Hidalgo County GOP chair Javier Villalobos won a narrow victory in the McAllen, Texas Mayor’s race this weekend. This is much more significant than it may seem at first glance because McAllen, Texas is 85% Hispanic. Additionally, Hillary Clinton won the town by 40% and Joe Biden won by 17%. Under normal circumstances, most people would assume McAllen was out of reach for the GOP, yet Villalobos won by roughly two hundred votes.
If you are wondering what kind of campaign Villalobos ran, then his pinned tweet on Twitter should give you an idea. Fiscal responsibility and low taxes are core Republican issues.
Fiscal responsibility and curbing taxes aids us all. Join me in my campaign to make McAllen the best it can be! 💯#I❤️McAllen#TeamVillalobos
#✌🏼VoteVillalobos✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/bz9FTHS64b— Javier Villalobos (@J_VillalobosLaw) January 22, 2021
Naturally, Democrats are worried about what losing a town like this may mean for their 2020 chances.
A GOP county chair just won a race for mayor of McAllen, Texas, a city that’s 85% Latino. Hillary won the county by 40 points.
If the Democratic Party doesn’t get serious about Latino outreach, we’re in big trouble.
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) June 6, 2021
So Republicans won the McAllen and Fort Worth Mayors races. Someone tell me again how we should stick with our current progressive message and strategy in Texas and not try to appeal to conservative/moderate voters.
— Jon Mark Hogg (@jonmarkhogg) June 6, 2021
Some of the liberals in the comments of these tweets were just what you’d expect from liberals as well.
Rigged election?
— FrannyBananny (@FBananny) June 6, 2021
You sure it’s outreach? What about all the f*ing voter suppression and vote tampering going on? THAT’s the real story.
— NoNazis (@no_nazis_ever) June 6, 2021
THIS PART! If Latinos are voting for Repugnants they’re doing it for the same reason ⚪️Trumpers do: THEY WANT TO! NO amount of “outreach” is going to get these votes. It’s insulting to suggest Dems are not doing outreach. These voters made their choice, let THEM own it!
— TashaCNS (@TashaCNS) June 7, 2021
The good news here is that a Republican candidate won in a place where the GOP would normally have almost no chance of winning. Could that be a sign that the GOP could make significant gains in 2022? Absolutely. However, you have to be careful about drawing too many conclusions about off-year elections like this because low turnout and candidate quality differences can sometimes be a big part of the way a race turns out the way it does.
That being said, this is still a good win for the GOP and yes, Democrats probably should be a little nervous. Traditionally, the party in power takes a beating in the first midterm elections, and given Joe Biden’s radicalism, it would be a bit of a surprise if the Democrats were still holding the House after the 2022 elections.
John Hawkins is the author of 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know. You can find him on Parler here and on Twitter here.
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