Democrats are losing Latino voters, RNC chair says
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel responds to how Mayra Flores' South Texas win represents how Latino voters are leaving the Democrat Party and why values matter to these voters.
Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Thursday that Congresswoman-elect Mayra Flores' victory in a Texas special election is a "precursor of what we're going to see with Hispanic voters" in the midterm elections.
McDaniel joined "America's Newsroom" to discuss the significance of Flores' victory and the RNC's efforts to appeal to Hispanic voters throughout the nation, a group once believed to be predominantly Democrat.
"There are things that resonate with the Hispanic community, religious freedom, school choice, economic opportunity, rule of law. These are things that are really bringing new voters into our party," she told hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer.
Republican Mayra Flores and Democrat Dan Sanchez faced off in a special election race on Tuesday to represent the 34th Congressional District in Texas for the remainder of Rep. Filemon Vela's term that expires in January. (Bill Clark, CQ-Roll Call, Inc / Dan Sanchez campaign)
Flores has been outspoken about her values throughout her race and McDaniel believes this resonated with Hispanic voters.
McDaniel told "The Brian Kilmeade Show" Wednesday that Republican Texas congressional candidate Mayra Flores' victory was "huge" and "should make Democrats very worried."
Flores, who had 51% of the vote to Democratic candidate Dan Sanchez' 43% when The Associated Press called the race, will become the first Mexican-born congresswoman to serve in the House. Her family moved to the United States when she was six years old.
McDaniel said the early voting was heavily Democrat, which means that Democrats crossed over to vote Republican.
"And it makes sense because Republicans stand for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, hard work, good education. And these are things, especially in this economy right now with inflation and high gas, that are really resonating with Hispanic voters across the country."
McDaniel discussed how the RNC has been making efforts across the U.S. with community centers to engage with people that have previously voted Democrat.
"It's been a big initiative of the RNC to have these community centers open earlier than ever. We had one in McAllen, Texas. It's been open for seven months. We have 30 across the country. It neighbors Mayra's district, it's in Texas, 15. She's in Texas, 34. But it's been the headquarters of her campaign.
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"It's been a long-term investment in engaging the communities that have been habitually Democrat that have been taken for granted by the Democrat Party and having a sustained dialogue with them, introducing them to the Republican Party," she explained.
Fox News' Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.
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