In partnership with
Via Canva Pro
As a civil rights attorney and American, I know there is nothing more sacred than our fundamental right to vote. I believe the November midterm election cycle is at risk of being subverted or canceled, and we should all be alarmed.
November election results rejecting Republican control of Congress would be cataclysmic for President Trump. Democratic strategist James Carville is forecasting that Democrats could pick up 25 and as many as 45 seats in the House and also retake the Senate.
Many commentators have forecast that Democrats would immediately mobilize oversight powers to investigate violations of law by this administration. Impeachment is a likely result for the president and many in his cabinet.
The only way for Trump to prevent this outcome from occurring is to subvert or stop the election from taking place.
Latino Impact
The consequences of election tampering for the Latino community would be dire. An estimated 17.5 million Latinos were projected to vote in the 2024 presidential election, a record high turnout and an increase from about 16.5 million in 2020. Roughly 36.2 million Hispanics were eligible to vote in 2024, up from 32.3 million in 2020, with young voters driving growth.
In a major shift from 2020 and 2016, Hispanic voters were divided in 2024. In 2020, Joe Biden won Hispanic voters by 25 percentage points, and in 2016, Hispanic voters supported Hillary Clinton by an even wider margin. But in 2024, Trump drew nearly even with Kamala Harris among Hispanic voters, losing among them by only 3 points.
The surge in Latinos voting for Trump didn’t happen by chance. Latino evangelicals and the GOP invested heavily in targeted radio and voter outreach. The Democratic Party failed to do the same. Democratic leaders routinely ignore the fact that our community is not focused on the single issue of immigration. We also care about our jobs, making ends meet, and the well-being of our children and families.
However, I have some bad news for Trump and the GOP. Their constant racist attacks and denigration of our community have succeeded in alienating Latinos. Current polling indicates a collapse of any support he previously generated. Most say their situation in the United States has worsened.
Candidates focusing on Hispanics as an essential voting bloc will prevail at the polls.
Realizing the dilemma they created for themselves, Trump and Republicans have undertaken attempts to solidify the 2026 midterm election in their favor. Their first effort sought to gerrymander congressional seats in red states.
However, this plan faced significant challenges and failed. Kansas Republicans could not secure enough votes to hold a special session to redraw the maps. Indiana Republicans halted a plan to eliminate two Democratic seats by rejecting a Trump-backed redistricting plan. California voters approved Proposition 50 to redraw the state’s congressional districts in a measure seen as giving Democrats an advantage in the House. These actions highlighted that partisan gerrymandering faced significant obstacles and was too complicated to succeed as a unified strategy.
Not Deterred?
Trump, however, is not deterred. He recently announced his desire to nationalize elections.
As a civil rights lawyer, I will tell you that under the Constitution, American elections are governed primarily by state law, leading to a decentralized process in which voting is administered by county and municipal officials. This occurs in thousands of precincts across the country in every election throughout the country.
I am concerned that Trump will become desperate and manufacture a scenario to cancel the election. He can point to the Insurrection Act, which authorizes the president to use federal troops to police civilians in certain specified and extreme emergencies, even though the optics would be un-American and authoritarian.
We know Trump is skilled at fabricating a crisis. If he can concoct an emergency, he would have the means to invoke the Insurrection Act. He could use his power to unleash ICE and the military on communities to enforce compliance and stop voting.
The voters who made a Faustian bargain in voting for Trump have now learned what they wrought. Many believed they would see a stronger economy and that deportations would affect only the “worst of the worst.” They were wrong.
Trumpism cannot be allowed to subvert or cancel our right to cast a ballot. If not, American democracy will no longer exist.
Mauro Morales is a retired attorney and civil rights leader who spent 25 years in federal service, most recently as Staff Director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He also served in the Obama Administration, including senior roles at the Office of Personnel Management, and previously worked in private practice and on Capitol Hill.
The Latino Newsletter is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Help us reach our $50,000 goal to fund our podcast’s third season and to offer more opportunities for journalists to file their stories without paywalls or paid subscriptions.
And Now a Word From Our Sponsor
Unbiased News Trusted by 2.3 Million Americans!
The Flyover offers a refreshing alternative to traditional news.
Tired of biased headlines and endless scrolling? We deliver quick, fact-focused coverage across politics, business, sports, tech, science, and more—cutting through the noise of mainstream media.
Our experienced editorial team finds the most important stories of the day from hundreds of sources, so you don’t have to.
Join over 2.3 million readers who trust The Flyover to start their day informed, confident, and ahead of the curve.
What We’re Reading
The Latino Newsletter Cited in Texas Media: Taking a moment from the news cycle to acknowledge that one of our contributors, Rogelio Sáenz, was featured prominently in a local Texas story out of Brownsville, where Sáenz’s latest opinion piece was part of a media Q&A with Comptroller Kelly Hancock.
In the Q&A portion of Hancock’s address, veteran broadcaster Ron Whitlock asked: “As Comptroller of Texas, you crunch all the numbers, right? I was reading the other day a study by a professor at UT-San Antonio. He says the number of immigrants being deported is and will have a negative impact on the Texas economy. Has your office analyzed this, sir?”
Hancock responded: “We have not analyzed this. That's not really an area that we do, on those types of numbers. What numbers we have, we provide them and are transparent with them. But that's not a data we've been asked for or provided.”
The study Whitlock was referring to was conducted by Rogelio Sáenz, a professor of sociology and demography at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Sáenz said he was concerned that mass deportations of immigrants by the Trump administration would have a negative impact on the U.S. economy.
“The U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates demonstrate that the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation has led to plunging growth rates in the population of the nation and almost all states. The greatest declines in immigration have disproportionately occurred in Blue states where Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential election,” Sáenz wrote, in a column for The Latino Newsletter.
Julio Ricardo Varela edited and published this edition of The Latino Newsletter.
The Latino Newsletter welcomes opinion pieces in English and/or Spanish from community voices. Submission guidelines are here. The views expressed by outside opinion contributors do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of this outlet or its employees.