Two years ago, Chiefer Danks of Rosedale, who works in agriculture, believed the former president would stabilize the economy and make life more affordable again as it was under his first administration. But more than a year into the second Trump administration, Danks isn\u2019t pleased with how things have changed. <\/p>\n\n
Like Danks, many California Latinos feel betrayed by the president\u2019s campaign promises to promptly lower costs and keep the U.S. out of foreign military entanglements \u2014 both of which ring hollow as gasoline and grocery prices surge due primarily to Trump\u2019s unpopular war in Iran.<\/p>\n\n
They\u2019re also frightened and outraged that Trump\u2019s second administration has targeted Latino residents \u2014 both those here illegally and legally, even U.S. citizens \u2014 with violent immigration raids and deportations, separating families in the process. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cI thought he was going to make America great again,\u201d said Danks, 31, as he stood waiting for his wife in El Mercado Latino, a hub for Latino-owned family businesses in the heavily Hispanic neighborhood of East Bakersfield. \u201cHe didn\u2019t follow through on his words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Public opinion polls and off-year elections have pointed to Latinos reversing their historic 2024 rightward shift toward Trump. And according to a new CalMatters review of 2025 election data, that trend also applies to last year\u2019s special election on redistricting \u2014 which Democrats successfully framed as a referendum on Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n The analysis of voting results from 57 of California\u2019s 58 counties<\/a> found that Proposition 50, Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s plan to gerrymander the state\u2019s congressional districts in Democrats\u2019 favor, vastly outperformed Kamala Harris\u2019s 2024 presidential campaign in precincts where the majority of voters are nonwhite. <\/p>\n\n The trend was most striking in precincts where the majority of ballots were cast by Latino voters. \u201cYes\u201d on Prop. 50 gained about 30 percentage points compared to Harris\u2019s performance against Trump a year earlier, according to CalMatters\u2019 analysis. <\/p>\n\n CalMatters\u2019 findings provide some of the clearest quantitative evidence yet that the Latino rightward shift toward Trump in 2024 was more a blip than a permanent realignment, a nationwide trend that has so far been captured by state and national polling, focus groups and anecdotal evidence. <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Voting \u201cYes\u201d on Prop. 50 was a way for Latinos to channel their pent-up frustration with the Trump administration, said Ben Tulchin, a San Francisco-based Democratic pollster who has conducted several surveys and focus groups with Latino swing voters. <\/p>\n\n \u201cThese Latinos, even the ones who voted for Trump in 2024, were pissed off at him,\u201d Tulchin said. \u201cThey feel deceived by Trump and his promises.\u201d<\/p>\n\n The failure to deliver on economic promises has sown mistrust and bitterness, but Latinos also have felt unfairly targeted by the administration on multiple fronts, including changing the name of the \u201cGulf of Mexico\u201d to the \u201cGulf of America,\u201d the high tariffs on goods coming from Mexico and of course the immigration crackdown, Tulchin said. <\/p>\n\n Danks\u2019 mother-in-law, a green card holder, used to run a fruit stand on a street corner in their neighborhood. But she shut down the business after raids by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up last year. <\/p>\n\n \u201cBeing Hispanic, and you know, even being a U.S. resident, she doesn’t feel safe,\u201d said Lorena Herrera, Danks\u2019 wife, who lives in the U.S. on a work visa. \u201cNobody’s really safe in this country now. It\u2019s really sad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Democrats hope they can capitalize on this anti-Trump frustration among Latinos as they work to flip control of one or both chambers of Congress in November. The road to the U.S. House majority likely runs through California, where Latinos could play a decisive role in at least two toss-up seats \u2014 one in the Central Valley and the other in San Diego. <\/p>\n\n But while a strong showing for Prop. 50 might confirm dissatisfaction with the GOP and the Trump administration, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean those voters will support Democrats \u2014 or vote at all. <\/p>\n\n Interviews with nearly a dozen Latinos in the Central Valley who are eligible to vote highlighted the deep-rooted skepticism of all politicians that often keeps many eligible voters on the sidelines. Even Danks, despite his dissatisfaction with life under a Republican-controlled federal government, did not vote in last year\u2019s special election on Prop. 50 and said he probably would not vote in the midterm elections later this year. <\/p>\n\n \u201cWas Prop. 50 an indicator of anything ideological or a return home? Nope, not even one little bit,\u201d said Mike Madrid, a conservative political consultant who studies Latino voter behavior. \u201cThey’re rejecting the party of power that is not prioritizing their economic concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Since Prop. 50 passed last November, the Trump administration has only become less popular with Latino voters, national polling shows<\/a>, as costs continue to rise for essentials like groceries, utilities and especially gasoline given the ongoing war in Iran.<\/p>\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s getting out of hand,\u201d said Gabriel Gracia, 31, of Tulare who operates a small commercial cleaning business in Woodlake, about 25 miles northeast. All that driving adds up to about two tanks of gas per week \u2014 which has risen from about $60 to nearly $85.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u201cEverything is too expensive,\u201d echoed Monica Rodriguez, 31, another Tulare resident who spoke with CalMatters on a recent afternoon as she walked into Superior Groceries to pick up some ingredients for the chicken larb she was cooking for dinner. <\/p>\n\n Her family sticks to chicken and pork when they do eat meat, she said, because they often can\u2019t afford beef. She bought a used Honda Fit for its fuel-efficiency since gas prices are so high and she has to drive across town twice a day to take her two sons to and from school. <\/p>\n\n Rodriguez even said she had considered having a third child since she\u2019d always wanted a daughter, but the cost of diapers, baby formula and other essentials were so high that she decided against it.<\/p>\n\n Despite her frustration with the cost of living, Rodriguez hasn\u2019t voted recently, sitting out both the 2024 presidential election and the special election on Prop. 50. But she said she might vote in this year\u2019s midterm elections if she can get her sister to help her fill out her ballot. <\/p>\n\n \u201cI should vote, but I don’t because I be stressed out,\u201d Rodriguez said, explaining that she doesn\u2019t always understand who\u2019s running for which office and how to fill out her ballot.<\/p>\n\n Gracia, who also spoke to CalMatters on his way into Superior Groceries, said he voted for Trump in 2024 because it was \u201ca choice between bad and worse.\u201d He didn\u2019t like how the United States was viewed as a \u201cweak country\u201d under President Joe Biden, and he believed the economy would be better under Trump like it was the first time he was in office. <\/p>\n\n \u201cHis first term was good, so I figured, you know, his second term would be just as good too,\u201d Gracia said. \u201cThey sold lies to us, basically. That\u2019s what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Despite his frustrations, Gracia said he still would\u2019ve voted for Trump since the GOP\u2019s tax policies are friendlier to small business owners like himself. He did not vote on Prop. 50 and said he supports Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco for governor.<\/p>\n\n While Prop. 50 served as an outlet for anger for some voters, it also spurred additional turnout among Latino Democrats who found themselves uninspired by Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019s 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n\n \u201cI just didn’t have someone who I could say I resonated with,\u201d said Angel Jimenez, 23, a second-year animal science student at Bakersfield College. <\/p>\n\n Jimenez said he was so uninspired by the field that he did not vote for president in 2024. As a former supporter of Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump was \u201cdefinitely not\u201d the candidate for him. Jimenez had considered Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his environmental platform, but ultimately decided he wasn\u2019t viable. And he didn’t like how Democratic Party leadership anointed Harris as Biden\u2019s replacement before the public had a chance to weigh in.<\/p>\n\n But when Jimenez heard about Prop. 50 and Democrats\u2019 message of fighting back against Trump and Republican redistricting efforts in Texas, he was eager to level the playing field. <\/p>\n\n \u201cThey were gaining an unfair advantage,\u201d Jimenez said of Texas. \u201cI was in favor of evening it out again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Jimenez spoke to CalMatters after an on-campus candidate forum for the 22nd Congressional District<\/a>. Democrat Randy Villegas, who is endorsed by both Sanders and the progressive Working Families Party, was the only candidate who showed up. After the forum, Jimenez signed up to volunteer with the campaign and also inquired about internship opportunities.<\/p>\n\n Jimenez, who leans more liberal, said the conflict in Iran and how it affects cost of living and affordability will be key factors in how he decides to vote this year.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe war right now is definitely something that has everything unstable,\u201d he said. \u201cJob security could be affected. The economy in general is being affected.\u201d<\/p>\n This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a> and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a> license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" California Latinos backed Trump in 2024. But they also supported Proposition 50, the gerrymander that Democrats sold as a tool to fight the president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88922,"featured_media":71888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"large","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[25172],"class_list":["post-71885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/calmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042026-Central-Valley-Voting-LV-05-CM-1024x682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&quality=89&ssl=1\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/calmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042026-Central-Valley-Voting-LV-CM-03-1024x682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&quality=89&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/calmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/092525-Redistricting-Day-1-LV-CM-40-1024x682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&quality=89&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\nCost of living is \u2018getting out of hand\u2019<\/h2>\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/calmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042026-Central-Valley-Voting-LV-CM-21-1024x682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&quality=89&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/calmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042026-Central-Valley-Voting-LV-CM-11-1024x682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&quality=89&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/calmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042026-Central-Valley-Voting-LV-CM-026-1024x682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&quality=89&ssl=1\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/calmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042026-Central-Valley-Voting-LV-24-CM-1024x682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&quality=89&ssl=1\")
Prop. 50 energized the Democratic base<\/h2>\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/calmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/042026-Central-Valley-Voting-LV-CM-14-1024x682.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&quality=89&ssl=1\")