Biden won 52% of the vote in the rural Starr County after Hillary Clinton won 79% of the vote, according to the Texas Secretary of State. Starr was one of several counties in the state’s Rio Grande Valley that garnered more Republican votes this year than in the 2016 presidential election.
In interviews with CNN, Republicans in the Rio Grande Valley said some aspects of the Mexican American culture aligned with Trump’s messaging, including that he values life, family and religious freedom.
“He’s bringing God back into our country, changes to regulations that put a chokehold into our economy and he’s plain-spoken like the average American,” said Minerva Simpson, a 54-year-old mortgage loan officer in Harlingen, Texas…
Some Mexican Americans in the Rio Grande Valley saw Trump as someone who gave them a voice after Democrats took them for granted, said Cadava.
