Why South Texas voters turned against Trump over inflation, ICE

Houston Chronicle · Julian Aguilar, Nina Moothedath, Taylor Nichols · 2026-11-04 21:00 UTC

Frustrated Rio Grande Valley voters explain why they voted Democrat this year after supporting Trump in 2024.

EDINBURG – Lorie Henriksen was an election judge in Hidalgo County and had a front-row seat in 2024 when the historically blue county flipped for President Donald Trump. It was a movement she helped usher in by voting Republican up and down the ballot.

On Tuesday, however, she was looking to put the last two years behind her.

“Prices on everything are going insane,” she said outside the county annex building in Edinburg. “Gas prices, food. I mean, people can't afford anything. And me being a single mom, it's getting hard.”

Read the full story at Houston Chronicle · All coverage of this story