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We already knew Latino voters were drifting from President Donald Trump, pushed not just by his hard-edged deportation agenda—firing tear gas at families, kids detained during school hours, courthouse arrests—but by the broader climate of fear his immigration machinery produces.
However, new polling points to a sharper, more immediate reason for the shift: Trump has made daily life punishingly expensive, and Latino voters are feeling the pinch.
A fresh survey conducted by Global Strategy Group for Somos Votantes and Somos PAC maps Trump’s nearly yearlong slide with Latino voters—and shows he’s now scraping bottom. If this trajectory holds, he won’t just lose the bloc; he could drag his party underwater with him.
Among Latinos who backed him in 2024, a striking 36% now say they’re disappointed with him or regret their vote.
Frustration goes beyond regret. A majority of Latino voters (51%) say inflation and the cost of living should be Washington’s top priority, yet only 14% think Trump and the GOP are actually focused on that crisis. That 37-percentage-point gap has widened since September.
None of this should surprise anyone. After all, the administration keeps rolling out policies that make life materially harder. While the White House insists Trump is laser-focused on affordability, clearly, voters aren’t convinced.
Tariffs are a blazing siren. Sixty-nine percent of Latino voters say Trump’s trade actions are driving up the cost of basic goods—from groceries to school supplies.
And the blame is landing squarely on Republicans. Latino voters now fault the GOP far more than Democrats for rising prices (45% vs. 24%) and wages that can’t keep up (42% vs. 20%). Anxiety is near-universal: 95% say they’re worried about climbing costs, and 91% say their paychecks aren’t stretching far enough.
Health care isn’t helping Trump, either—another opening Democrats have eyed ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Somos Votantes’ poll found deep, widespread concern about soaring drug prices (80% concerned, 61% very concerned) and about millions potentially losing coverage (83% concerned, 68% very concerned).
All of it has pushed Trump’s numbers into free fall. Somos found that the president’s net favorability has plunged to -26 points (from -12 points in February). Job approval has dropped to -28 points (from -11 points). His economic rating has cratered to -30 points (from -13 points). Every metric has moved against him, and all of them by double digits.
Groups that once offered him a foothold have broken away. Independents are cold on him, younger Latino voters are sharply negative, and Latino men—once a target audience for the GOP—are now underwater across the board.
Emmanuelle Leal-Santillan, national director of communications at Somos Votantes/Somos PAC, told Daily Kos this isn’t a sudden collapse so much as a slow, unmistakable unwinding.
“You have to give voters what they want, and voters want something they can believe in,” Leal-Santillan said. “Right now, Latino voters are just feeling the weight of high prices. They’re already given this administration a really tough opinion on their handling of the economy.”
In other words, it isn’t just immigration. It isn’t just health care. The economy remains the center of gravity—and Latino voters aren’t impressed with Trump’s performance on any front.
That leaves a bigger question hanging over 2026: Does this open a lane for Democrats?
Possibly. But only if they’re disciplined enough to take it.
“Latinos blame Republicans and Trump for the rising costs, and that is a really bad formula for Republicans, but it is an opportunity for Democrats if they’re able to communicate a positive economic vision for the future, and not just an anti-Trump message,” Leal-Santillan said. “That’s going to make the difference as we head into the midterm elections.”
And there’s the rub. Democrats have long struggled to articulate what they’d do differently—defaulting to anti-Trump warnings that rarely land with force or clarity. Now they face a test: Can they turn voter frustration on health care, the economy, and immigration into a clear, affirmative program? Not vibes, not fears—but actual policy.
So far, party leadership hasn’t shown much fire. But the polling suggests the opening is real if they choose to step into it.
The good news for Democrats: Latino voters are fired up. Somos found 84% say they’re motivated to vote next year, with 61% being extremely motivated, and 94% cite the economy as their driving issue. Meanwhile, Trump’s policies are deeply—almost uniformly—unpopular. Of more than a dozen tested, every single one registered concern from at least 70% of voters.
This could spell real trouble for Republicans in 2026—but only if Democrats capitalize on it.
“It’s been a bad year for Trump with Latino voters,” Leal-Santillan said. “And we’re ending the year, but it’s a time of the year when families are going to get together over the Thanksgiving holiday and in December. Those strong emotions of how just bad the economy is under Trump are only going to get even deeper.”
Some Democrats are finally waking up. Recent blue-state wins in New Jersey and Virginia showed surprisingly strong support among Latino voters—a reminder that the GOP’s inroads are fragile.
And the shutdown fight sharpened the contrast. Democrats spent the 43-day standoff pushing to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, but Republicans refused to help. And data suggests that voters have noticed. A recent poll from Navigator Research poll finds 47% of Americans blaming Trump and the GOP for rising health care premiums, compared with just 21% who point to Democrats.
Those subsidies would have lowered premiums, but Republicans said no. And in an election cycle dominated by affordability, that distinction matters.
Trump will likely try to stage a comeback—executive orders paraded for the cameras, announcements designed to grab headlines. But Latino voters appear to no longer buy the performance. They’ve seen him govern twice now, and their patience is fraying. They understand the stakes when he holds power—and for many, they’ve already seen too much.
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