“I think Latinos understand Trump can be coarse sometimes and can be uncouth, but then they take a look at his policies that a lot of Latinos embrace — pro-growth, entrepreneurial — these are all policies Latinos can embrace,” said Daniel Garza, president of The LIBRE Initiative, a Hispanic center-right organization.

Trump’s performance in Texas was noteworthy because the Latino outreach in the Rio Grande Valley on his behalf was “very organic,” Garza said.

“This was communication spread from one person to the next, about ‘look what was done on the economy, look at the results,'” said Garza, who lives in the region. Car caravans for Trump became commonplace and heavily attended, and they “took off all the way up to Laredo,” he said.

Beyond the economy, Mexican American voters in the Rio Grande Valley tend to be more conservative on the issues, said Fraga, author of “The Turnout Gap: Race, Ethnicity, and Political Inequality in a Diversifying America.”