The Latino Vote Podcast Word of the Day: ‘GALLIVANTING’

That’s exactly what Chuck Rocha is out doing somewhere leaving Mike Madrid in the pilot seat this episode. No filter. No back-and-forth. Just one of the sharpest minds in Latino politics, a pile of polling data, and a lot of things that need to be said out loud.

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New SSRS Poll on Donald Trump's Approval

Donald Trump: King of the Losers

Let’s start with the data, because the data is extraordinary.

Donald Trump is currently polling worse than any president at this point in a second term in the history of modern polling. That’s what CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten found when he ran the numbers: “Oh my goodness gracious. What a disaster!”

Overall, Trump’s job approval sits at just 35% in the most recent CNN poll, with 64% disapproving — one point off his all-time low. A University of Massachusetts Amherst survey puts him even lower, at 33% approval and 62% disapproval, the worst reading in that poll’s history for Trump in his second term.

Trump’s net approval among independent voters has hit -45 points. For context: Nixon was at -36 points at the height of Watergate. Trump is nearly ten points worse. On the economy specifically, 65% of Americans say his policies have made things worse, a higher share than said the same about Joe Biden at any point during his presidency, and higher than Carter during the depths of stagflation in the 1970s.

On 10 of the 12 major issues tracked by Morning Consult, Trump is underwater. His only remaining areas of relative strength are national security and immigration and even those are eroding fast. Immigration, once his strongest issue, is also starting to slip in several recent polls as the reality of mass deportation raids, shootings of American citizens by ICE agents, and economic disruption begins to cut through.

Trump promised a lot of winning and ironically this is the first time he is truly outshining his presidential peers. The Newsweek article that quoted Mike directly put it plainly: he has never seen the fundamentals for an incumbent party this bad heading into a midterm election. Possibly ever.

So here’s your well-deserved crown, President Trump. All hail! King of the losers!

So Democrats Are Going to Win. Here’s the Complicated Part.

The fundamentals of this race are so bad that Mike argues Democrats could focus on nothing, run no coherent message, offer no unified agenda, and still take back the House. The generic ballot consistently shows Democrats with a 6 to 8 point advantage. A wave is coming.

But winning isn’t the same as governing. And governing for Latino voters is something neither party has figured out how to do.

Once Democrats win there will be a pitched, bitter internal battle between the progressive and establishment wings of the party over who gets to claim the mandate. Mike argues that this is entirely the wrong fight to be having. The ideological construct of left vs. center is a distraction from the real question: are you actually delivering for the people who voted for you?

The answer, for Latino voters, is no. And it hasn’t been yes for a very long time.

The California Problem Nobody Wants to Own

Here’s the part of the episode that should make every Latino politician in California deeply uncomfortable.

A recent Los Angeles Times article, which referenced a UC Berkeley California Policy Lab report released March 31st, documented what many already knew but few were willing to say: working class Latinos are leaving California. Not billionaires. Not millionaires. Working families, driven out by housing costs, by the cost of groceries, by a state that has become genuinely unaffordable for the people who built it.

The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute’s State of Latinos in California 2026 report, released the same week, showed that 63% of Latino children and youth in California are enrolled in Medi-Cal. 58% of Latino renter households are cost-burdened, including 29% who are severely burdened — spending over half their income on housing. The median value of Latino-owned homes is $229,000 less than that of non-Latino-owned homes.

California Democrats have a supermajority in the state legislature. They control the governor’s office. They control every constitutional office in the state. They have the votes to do something about this. And they haven’t.

Mike asks a simple question: why. His answer is uncomfortable. The political incentives don’t require it. The white progressive base of the California Democratic Party already has housing. They don’t need more of it. And Latino politicians, rather than challenging that dynamic, have largely chosen to go along to get along, to carry water for interests that don’t serve their community, because that’s what you do if you want the consulting contract, the invite to the press conference, the title.

The Republican Side Is No Better

And before any Republican readers feel too comfortable: Mike has the same message for you.

Latino voters who crossed over to Trump in 2024 did so out of economic desperation, not ideological alignment. But if you’re a Latino Republican who isn’t loudly and publicly calling out the nativism, the anti-immigrant terror, the gleeful cruelty of deportation enforcement against working families… well then Mike has a message for you too, and it’s not gentle.

The point isn’t which party is slightly less bad. The point is that neither party is building a pathway to the middle class for Latino families. Neither party is offering pro-growth, pro-construction, pro-working class policies alongside a pro-immigrant, pro-pathway-to-citizenship agenda. And polling shows that this is exactly what Latino voters want.

Referenced in this Episode:

→ CNN poll conducted by SSRS Trump approval economy
View by clicking here →

→ Morning Consult - Tracking Public Opinion of Trump’s Washington
View on Morning Consult →

→ G. Elliott Morris / Silver Bulletin - The six big events that have dragged down Donald Trump’s approval rating
View on Strength in Numbers →

Strength In Numbers

The six big events that have dragged down Donald Trump's approval rating

Note: This article is free to read, but it was not free to produce. To help grow this newsletter business (doing so incurs costs like paying for polling data and modeling infrastructure, experimenting on biz dev, and hiring a couple of survey research assistants…

Read more

4 months ago · 220 likes · 17 comments · G. Elliott Morris

→ Newsweek - Republicans Brace for Midterms Massacre
View on Newsweek →

→ Los Angeles Times - Life after California: People find dramatically lower costs, are more likely to buy homes, new data show
View on Los Angeles Times →

→ Population Reference Bureau - Medi-Cal Average Monthly Enrollment, by Race/Ethnicity
View on PRB →

→ UCLA Latino Policy Institute - State of Latinos in California, 2026: Unlocking California’s Potential by Closing Latino Opportunity Gaps
View on their website →

Don’t forget: Like, subscribe, and share this with everyone who needs to understand what actually works with Latino voters.

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Bobby Pulido is no stranger to The Latino Vote Podcast. He joined us before, but a lot has changed since then. Since Bobby is now the Democratic nominee for Texas Congressional District 15, we had to bring him back.

If you haven’t been following the Texas-15 congressional race, let us catch you up; because something remarkable is happening down in the Rio Grande Valley...

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The Quinceañera Counterpunch Heard ‘Round the Valley

Let’s start with the moment that put this campaign on the national radar.

Shortly after Bobby won the primary, Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz went on the attack, attempting to dismiss him as a celebrity who “just does quinceañeras.” But what was meant as an easy layup instead, became one of the most spectacular own goals of the 2026 cycle.

Bobby’s campaign didn’t flinch. They didn’t huddle for two weeks with consultants and focus groups. They leaned in and publicly embraced the quinceañera as exactly what it is: a sacred rite of passage in Latino culture, a celebration of family, faith, and community. Bobby announced he’d be honored to attend quinceañeras across the district. See his video response below:

@bobbypulidofortexasMy opponent said I only belong playing at quinceañeras. I’ll take that as a compliment. Quinceañeras are about family, tradition, and community. That’s exactly what this campaign is about. Got one coming up in District 15? Send us a DM. I’d be honored to stop by.

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The result? Over 2,000 requests from constituents, and counting.

“The more people you talk to out on the ground and they see what you’re about,” Bobby told us, “it inoculates you from all that negativity they throw your way.”

As Mike Madrid put it on the show: when they go negative, that’s the best day of the campaign. It means the momentum is yours and they have nothing left but to try to tear you down.

Swift and Real Responses to ICE Detainments

If the quinceañera story showed the campaign’s cultural instincts, his response to ICE’s detainment of the Mariachi teens showed his campaign’s speed.

When the Gámez-Cuéllar boys were detained by immigration authorities, Bobby got word on a plane back from New York. He landed, got in an Uber, pulled out his phone, and recorded a video calling out ICE and the Congresswoman on a Saturday afternoon.

He didn’t ask for permission. He didn’t schedule a press conference. He didn’t wait for a poll.

Within days, Monica de la Cruz had set up a podium and was publicly parading the detained teenager out of the facility, a remarkable reversal for a Republican who had campaigned on mass deportations just over a year ago.

The lesson for campaigns everywhere: instincts matter. Over-consulting a moment can kill it. The social media era rewards candidates who trust their gut and move in real time.

@bobbypulidofortexasThese Mariachi students from McAllen were good enough for Monica De La Cruz’s photo ops. Now they’re in detention centers and she’s nowhere to be found. South Texas notices.

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“God, Family, and Country.” Bobby is not Your Usual Democrat

Bobby was remarkably candid about where his own party has lost the plot with Latino voters, and it’s worth sitting with what he said.

“Democratic politicians got away from the family structure,” he told us. “We let the Republican party literally run on God, family, and country. And those things in the Hispanic culture resonate.”

He’s not wrong. For a generation, Republicans were the only side to fully voice those values. The result? A historic shift in Latino voting patterns in 2024 that Democrats are still trying to understand.

Bobby describes himself as a conservative Democrat. Someone who believes in community, in the social contract, in workers having a shot. But someone who also embraces the values of faith and family that are central to Latino life. He doesn’t think that’s an oxymoron. He thinks it’s a roadmap.

He’s also clear-eyed about the party’s problem with young Latino men, who increasingly feel that Democrats don’t speak to their values or their identity. His solution isn’t to abandon progressive priorities. It’s to speak the language of provider, protector, and community builder that young men in the Valley actually recognize.

“We’re so unbalanced politically right now,” he said. “The Republican party is very male dominated and the Democratic party is very female dominated. I’m a Democrat man running against a Republican woman. That’s going to be an interesting dynamic.”

What’s at Stake

TX-15 is a Trump-leaning district in the Rio Grande Valley: a heavily Latino region that has seen some of the most significant political shifts of the past four years. But the data across the Southwest is showing double-digit point Latino swing back toward Democrats, and Bobby Pulido is running directly into that wave.

This is the kind of race that defines what the next chapter of the Democratic Party looks like in Latino America. Not a party that talks at Latinos, but one that reflects them, their faith, their families, their work ethic, their pride.

“Anybody that can unite the Latino vote will unite the country,” Bobby said as we wrapped up. “I honestly believe that. We hold the key. We are the future. And any party that neglects us, neglects us at their peril.”

Support Bobby Pulido's Campaign

Referenced in this Episode:

→ The New York Times - Texas 15th Congressional District Primary Election Results
View on the New York Times →

→ mitú - Bobby Pulido Took His Campaign to Quinceañeras and People Are Loving It
View on mitú →

→ CBS News - ICE detention of South Texas mariachi band teen brothers sparks bipartisan backlash
View on CBS News →

→ El Paso Times - Hinojosa polling strong in red Texas districts, Abbott touts border security
View on El Paso Times →

→ The New York Times - Florida Special Election Results
View on The New York Times →

Don’t forget: Like, subscribe, and share this with everyone who needs to understand what actually works with Latino voters.

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• Watch our episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

• Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music

Consider becoming a supporter by pledging to our Substack! Your donation helps improve our podcast!

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The Chávez Reckoning

The New York Times published what can only be described as a devastating, meticulously documented investigation into César Chávez, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, labor movement icon, and for millions of Mexican Americans, a figure of near-mythical stature.

The allegations are serious. And the response from the UFW (click here to view their online statement) only adds weight to what is already an overwhelming evidentiary record.

We won’t pretend this is easy to process.

For Chuck, who has spent his career as one of the country’s few prominent Latino labor leaders, this is personal. For Mike, who grew up in the shadow of the UFW organizing drives in Ventura County, it cuts deep in a different way. But personal discomfort is not an excuse to look away.

What we’re watching in real time is what happens when a community built its political identity around a single human being rather than a set of values and a movement. The statues, the schools, the holiday, the bust in the Oval Office. All of it now carries an asterisk. And the question before us isn’t whether that asterisk exists. It’s what we do next.

Here’s our argument: the movement was always bigger than the man. Dolores Huerta, 96 years old, co-founder, and herself a victim according to her own courageous statement, represents what this fight was actually about. The farm workers who organized, who went on strike, who built collective power from nothing represent what this fight was actually about. That work doesn’t disappear because its most famous face has been exposed as deeply, profoundly flawed.

But this moment also demands something of us politically. We have to stop deifying people. Full stop. The cult of personality is dangerous in every direction. Whether the idol is César Chávez or Donald Trump. When we place human beings on marble pedestals, we make ourselves vulnerable to exactly this kind of collapse. The antidote isn’t cynicism. It’s investing in ideas, institutions, and movements. Not individual saviors.

Illinois: $50 Million and Not One Dollar for Us

On the same day the Chávez story broke, Illinois held its Democratic Senate primary, and the results handed us a perfect case study in exactly what’s wrong with how both parties approach the Latino vote.

The race featured three well-funded candidates: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton, and Congresswoman Robin Kelly. Combined hard money and outside spending topped $50 million. Governor Pritzker alone dropped $5 million into a super PAC backing Stratton.

Illinois has 1.1 million registered Latino voters. It is the fifth-largest Latino state in the country. Chicago’s Latino precincts are dense, organized, and politically consequential.

So how much of that $50 million went toward Spanish-language outreach? According to our research: nearly zero. We’re talking about amounts so small they don’t register as a rounding error on a $35 million campaign budget.

Compare that to Texas, where the primary results told a completely different story. James Talarico’s campaign and its supporting super PACs invested deliberately in Latino outreach and the results in the Rio Grande Valley and other Latino-heavy districts were dramatic. That’s not a coincidence. That’s cause and effect.

The Illinois outcome isn’t just a missed opportunity. It’s a data point in a pattern we’ve been documenting for years: campaigns of both parties continue to treat Latino voters as an afterthought, assume passive loyalty, and then express bewilderment when the numbers don’t move the way they expected.

Here’s what we know: you cannot win Latino voters you are not talking to. This isn’t theory. This is thirty-plus years of combined field experience telling you exactly what the data shows.

And before Republicans feel smug about any of this: we see you too.

The “Hiccup” That Wasn’t

This week, Punchbowl News reported that House Republicans have begun conducting focus groups and internal polling after growing alarm about their standing with Latino voters. Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly described the problem as a “hiccup.”

This is not a hiccup. This is the fastest collapse of a political honeymoon in modern American history. After the 2024 election, when Donald Trump made genuine, historic inroads with Latino voters, breaking roughly 50/50 in some key demographics, Republicans had an opening unlike anything the party had seen in a generation with this constituency.

They torched it in under 60 days. Whoops.

ICE operations targeting families with deep community roots. Tariff policies hammering Latino small business owners and construction workers. A governing posture that treats the same voters it courted as threats to be managed rather than constituents to be served.

Mike’s book, The Latino Century, opens with a simple thesis: all Republicans have to do to win Latino voters is stop being racist. The events of the past 90 days suggest that is, in fact, harder than it sounds.

The focus groups are a good sign. The framing as a “hiccup” is not. If you walked into the room thinking this is a messaging problem, you walked in with the wrong diagnosis.

The Latino Vote Summit: It’s Real, June 23rd, Mark Your Calendar

We’ve been teasing this for a while. It’s time to make it official.

The Latino Vote Summit is happening on June 23rd in Washington, D.C.

This is an invite-only, one-day convening of Latino leaders from across the ideological and professional spectrum: labor, business, environmental, civic, political. The explicit goal is to get the 60–70% of issues our community agrees on into the same room and start building toward a coherent, unified Latino political agenda.

No bomb-throwing. No red-versus-blue foxhole politics. No outside speakers. Latino voices only.

The centerpiece of the day will be a Latino town hall at lunch featuring a sitting U.S. senator who will take unscripted questions directly from attendees about what the Latino community demands from its elected officials. There will be press in the room. That’s intentional.

Chuck and Mike have been talking about doing something like this for years. The podcast has built the audience and the credibility to make it mean something. The political moment makes it necessary.

If you want to be considered for an invitation, send us a DM or drop your info in the comments. Space is extremely limited and this will fill fast.

Referenced in this Episode:

→ Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years
View on the New York Times →

→ Who Is Dolores Huerta, the Activist Accusing Chavez
View on the New York Times →

→ Illinois Primary Election Results 2026
View on NPR →

→ Democrats set a turnout record in Texas, so is this the year it turns blue?
View on NPR →

→ Statement from the UFW Foundation
View on the UFW Foundation Website →

→ The Latino vote could crush Republicans
View on Punchbowl News →

Don’t forget: Like, subscribe, and share this with everyone who needs to understand what actually works with Latino voters.

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• Watch our episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

• Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music

Consider becoming a supporter by pledging to our Substack! Your donation helps improve our podcast!

Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid welcomed a guest who sits at the very center of Latino political and cultural life in America: Daniel Alegre, CEO of TelevisaUnivision, the largest Spanish-language media company in the United States. What followed was one of the most data-rich, candid, and consequential conversations the podcast has produced to date.

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The Poll: Affordability Above Everything

Check out TelevisaUnivision's New Poll

TelevisaUnivision, in partnership with the Harris polling firm, conducted a new survey of Latino voters, including those who had just cast ballots in the recent Texas elections, and the findings leave little room for interpretation.

76% of Latino respondents identified the cost of living and inflation as their most pressing concern. Not abortion. Not foreign policy. Not Greenland. Groceries. Rent. Healthcare. The pocketbook issues that hit working Latino families hardest.

“That was issue number one, issue number two, and issue number three,” Alegre said plainly. “Everything else was absolutely secondary.”

The poll also found that 82% of Latino voters now believe their vote is a critically decisive factor in American elections — a sign that the community is not only growing in size but in political self-awareness. And perhaps the most staggering data point of the conversation: 50% of all new voter registrations in the United States are Hispanic. A number, as Madrid noted, that is still accelerating.

The Message Is Still Not Getting Through

Despite the data, Alegre points out how many campaigns continue to miss the mark. He described sitting with senior advisors from major 2024 campaigns and listening to them outline their Latino outreach strategies, only to find them anchored in issues that simply did not reflect what Latino communities were actually talking about.

“I said, I don’t think you’re listening,” Alegre recalled of one such meeting. “Affordability, affordability, and affordability. That’s what they care about.”

The mistakes, he explained, tend to follow a predictable pattern. Campaigns wait until the final two weeks to begin outreach. They assume a Spanish surname on a staffer’s business card is a substitute for genuine community engagement. They advertise on English-language media and wonder why the message doesn’t stick. And they rely on broad demographic assumptions that have been disproven election cycle after election cycle.

“The definition of insanity,” Alegre said, “is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

What Getting It Right Actually Looks Like

Alegre, Rocha, and Madrid all pointed to Ted Cruz’s 2024 Senate race as a case study in effective Latino outreach. Cruz advertised in both English and Spanish, tailored his message to issues Latino voters actually cared about, showed up personally to Spanish-language media, despite not being a fluent Spanish speaker, and built his Latino engagement over time rather than in a last-minute sprint. He won.

Ruben Gallego’s Arizona Senate race was cited as another model. Rocha, who served as a senior advisor on the campaign, described an intentional, early, and layered approach to Spanish-language advertising that drove meaningful overperformance with Latino voters.

And then there was James Talarico in Texas: a candidate who engaged the Latino community early, showed up at the events and cultural moments that matter, and won every single Latino precinct he needed.

The 2026 Battleground

Then they turned to the races that will define the next chapter of Latino political power in America. Chuck and Mike set the stage for the 2026 battleground: the wide-open California Governor’s race, where Latino voters could determine the outcome of a crowded field; the Texas Governor and Senate races; an Arizona Governor’s race; a competitive Florida Senate race; and a string of targeted congressional seats along the Texas Rio Grande Valley and in Miami, where a new high-profile candidate just entered the race.

Alegre’s message to any candidate running in any of these states was consistent: do not assume the Latino vote is coming to you. Go earn it. Go earn it now.

He also revealed a striking data point from the Texas election cycle: one in five Latino voters in their survey recalled seeing a Spanish-language political ad. That means roughly 25% of Latino voters were completely unreached by any political message whatsoever.

“Twenty-five percent,” Alegre said. “That’s who you’re leaving on the table.”

The VIX Factor: Reaching the Next Generation

For campaigns thinking about digital outreach, Alegre offered a critical distinction. Algorithms on platforms like Facebook or YouTube may flag someone as Hispanic because they watched a Bad Bunny video. That data, he argued, is fundamentally unreliable.

TelevisaUnivision’s streaming platform VIX — currently the fastest-growing subscription streaming service in the United States — operates differently. If someone is on VIX, Alegre said, there is a 99.9% probability they are Hispanic. The platform’s targeting, combined with TelevisaUnivision’s household data graph that aggregates local TV, national TV, radio, digital, and third-party sources, gives campaigns the most precise Latino targeting available anywhere in the media landscape.

“If you want to find a Hispanic voter,” Alegre said plainly, “we’ll deliver them for you.”

Referenced in this Episode:

→ New TelevisaUnivision & Harris Texas Latino Voter Study - HIGHLIGHTS MAJORS STRATEGIC DISCONNECT BETWEEN ELECTED LEADERS AND HISPANIC VOTERS IN TEXAS
View on TelevisaUnivision’s Website →

Don’t forget: Like, subscribe, and share this with everyone who needs to understand what actually works with Latino voters.

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Want more Latino Vote Podcast?

• Check out our website:

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• Watch our episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

• Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music

Consider becoming a supporter by pledging to our Substack! Your donation helps improve our podcast!

The Texas Democratic primary is over. The dust has settled. And if you’re still trying to explain James Talarico’s victory without talking about the Latino vote, you’re not paying attention.

For this episode, Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid break down everything that happened in Texas — the strategy, the numbers, the grassroots machine, and what it all means heading into 2026. Their verdict? This wasn’t luck. It wasn’t a fluke. It was a blueprint. And they’ve seen it before.

The Pattern That Won’t Be Ignored Anymore

There’s a trend line that the political establishment has been slow to acknowledge.

Chuck Rocha manages Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign → record Latino turnout.

Chuck serves as senior advisor to Ruben Gallego → record Latino votes in a battleground Trump state, with a coalition that crossed party lines. James Talarico wins the Texas Democratic primary → And thanks to Chuck and Talarico’s team, Latinos break 60-40 in his favor.

One common thread. One through line. It isn’t magic — it’s Chuck Rocha and his focus on message, delivery, and consistency, executed early, executed broadly, and executed with cultural competency.

What Actually Happened in Texas

Jasmine Crockett ran a strong race. She earned 83% of the Black vote — a strong but unsurprising number for a well-known Black congresswoman in a Democratic primary. But Talarico didn’t just outperform with Latino voters — he dominated in communities that had been written off as gone.

The Rio Grande Valley. Webb County. Starr County. Hidalgo County. The border communities that pundits spent the last decade calling “Trump country,” pointing to 80-point swings as evidence of a permanent rightward drift among Latino voters — those same communities moved dramatically back toward a Democrat on Tuesday. Not slightly. Dramatically.

And it wasn’t just the border. Harris County’s Hispanic-dense precincts told the same story. Then came the suburban numbers from a special election in the Dallas/Tarrant County area just ten days prior: a 31-point swing away from Republicans. Urban. Rural. Suburban. Across generations. Across geographic lines.

How This Campaign Connected with Latino Voters Where Others Failed

The honest truth about why most campaigns fail with Latino voters, according to Chuck, is simple: they show up late, they show up with the wrong message, and they mistake a last-minute Spanish ad buy for a Latino strategy.

Talarico’s team did two things differently. They started early. And they showed up everywhere — not just at the door, and not just on Univision’s morning news.

The campaign ran Spanish ads and English ads. They invested in digital. But the more creative choices are what set them apart. The team identified a Texas-exclusive Spanish-language music industry award show on Univision — the kind of media buy a traditional outside consultant would never make. They bought heavily into it. They were the only campaign there.

Were those individual buys the difference-maker alone? No. But layered on top of the grassroots operation, and on top of a message built around working-class issues — economic dignity, not left and not right — those culturally fluent choices created something larger than the sum of their parts.

And speaking of parts, just look at the numbers from Talarico’s campaign: 28,000 volunteers, 485 community-based events in six weeks. 4.7 million peer-to-peer texts — in English and in Spanish — from volunteers to other voters. Over 100,000 conversations at the door.

Bobby Pulido Wins TX-15 Dem Primary

The Talarico win isn’t the only story worth telling from this cycle.

Bobby Pulido’s opponent spent $1.2 million trying to pull him into a more progressive lane and paint him as out of step with his community. Bobby spent a fraction of that, stayed consistent, and he won overwhelmingly.

The lesson, both Chuck and Mike agree, isn’t about ideology. It’s about trust. Bobby knows his district. He knows how those communities think and how they make decisions. When DC consultants came to him with polls showing a different picture, his response was straightforward: I live here. I talk to these people.

Mike framed it clearly: that instinct — and the confidence to back it — is the difference between winning by 53% and winning by 60%. And it’s exactly what’s missing from too many campaigns that claim to want the Latino vote.

The Through Line: It’s Always Been the Same

Bernie. Ruben. Talarico. Bobby.

Message. Delivery. Consistency. Cultural competency. Early investment. Real money in real channels. That’s the blueprint Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid have been laying out on this podcast — and the results are now loud enough that even the people who’ve been ignoring it for decades are starting to pay attention.

The Latino vote is growing. It is decisive. And it is increasingly competitive — which means both parties have to work for it. That’s not a warning. That’s just democracy functioning the way it should.

Referenced in this Episode:

→ The New York Times - ‘How Latino Voters Helped Talarico Win in Texas’
View on the New York Times →

→ CBS News - ‘Julie Johnson, Colin Allred advance to runoff in Texas’ 33rd Congressional District Democratic primary’
View on CBS News →

→ California Governor’s Race 2026 – Likely Latino Voters by David Binder Research
View on the Latino Vote Website →

→ Politico - ‘GOP targets California for ballot fight on voter ID’:
View on Politico →

Don’t forget: Like, subscribe, and share this with everyone who needs to understand what actually works with Latino voters.

Share The Latino Vote Podcast

Want more Latino Vote Podcast?

• Check out our website:

https://latinos.vote/

• Watch our episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

• Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music

Consider becoming a supporter by pledging to our Substack! Your donation helps improve our podcast!

Texas Is About to Shake. And Latino Voters Are Holding the Fault Line

Chuck Rocha flew into Sacramento. Mike Madrid held court with the California Senate Democratic Caucus. And then they sat down to record one of the most data-packed episodes we’ve done in a while.

This week’s episode drops the day before the Texas primary — and the numbers we’re seeing are genuinely hard to explain. In Tarrant County alone, Democratic early vote went from 9,000 in 2018 to over 51,000 this cycle. Thirty-point swings. Republicans switching ballots. First-time primary voters showing up out of nowhere. Something is happening in Texas, and the pollsters aren’t capturing it.

The Crockett vs. Talarico Senate race is the one to watch. Not because of the candidates themselves — but because Latino voters are going to decide it. Chuck breaks down exactly why, with the kind of back-of-the-napkin math only he can pull off. Mike explains what it will mean for the broader narrative about how Latinos vote — and whether the Democratic Party has actually learned anything from 2024.

We also get into the Republican civil war between Cornyn and Paxton (over $100 million spent, making it the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history), why Bobby Polito might be the most important candidate nobody’s talking about, and the one warning sign Democrats should not ignore heading into November: a $450 million Republican war chest that dwarfs anything on the left.

Plus — we’re announcing the first-ever Latino Vote Summit in Washington, D.C. this summer. More details coming soon, but if you want to be in the room, hit reply and let us know.

New episode out now, wherever you listen.

Don’t forget: Like, subscribe, and share this with everyone who needs to understand what actually works with Latino voters.

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Want more Latino Vote Podcast?

• Check out our website:

https://latinos.vote/

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Chuck is back from Oaxaca. Mike is slightly less angry than last week. And the 2026 midterms just got a whole lot more interesting.

In the latest episode of The Latino Vote Podcast, “The 2026 Latino Vote Battlefield”, dives headfirst into the districts, demographics, and power struggles that will decide control of Congress. And at the center of it all?

Latino voters. Not as a side story. Not as an afterthought. But as the battlefield itself.

*This post breaks down several districts with high Latino populations. If you are reading this via email it will most likely cut off early. We recommend checking out the entire post on The Latino Vote Substack.

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The Map is Changing

We begin in Texas, where early voting is underway and turnout numbers from places like Houston, Dallas, and the Rio Grande Valley could preview what 2026 looks like nationwide.

For years, the political establishment treated Latino voters as predictable. That era is over.

Districts that are 30%, 40%, even 80% Latino are now competitive terrain. Congressional control may hinge on places the national media barely understands — rural South Texas, the Central Valley of California, fast-growing suburbs in Arizona and Colorado, and South Florida.

The “30% rule” that once defined partisan collapse in certain districts is being tested in real time.

So What is the 30% Rule?

For twenty years — from 1990 to 2010 — there was a quiet rule in California politics: the moment a congressional district hit 30% Latino population, the Republican would lose. Every single time. Like clockwork.

Mike Madrid first documented it. And now, heading into 2026 with a newly redrawn map, that number is showing up again — across California, Colorado, Arizona, and beyond.

Is the rule still valid in an era of shifting Latino partisanship? We don’t pretend to have a clean answer. But if you want to understand where the House majority could flip, you need to understand that number.

The Races You Should Be Watching

This is not a national overview. This is a district-by-district breakdown of the congressional races where Latino voters aren’t just part of the story — they are the story. These are the seats that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives, and in each one, the Latino share of the electorate is large enough to be decisive.

Get your pencil out.

TEXAS

TX 28 - 85% Latino | This is the Henry Cuellar seat, and it’s now an R+11 district following redistricting. The most Latino congressional district in the country — 85% Latino — is a Republican-leaning seat. That is not a coincidence. It is the story of what’s happened to the Latino vote in South Texas over the past decade. Republicans didn’t flip this community by accident. They built relationships, ran Spanish-language outreach, and showed up. Whether that hold continues in a year where Latino communities are bearing the brunt of aggressive immigration enforcement is the central question of the 2026 cycle.

TX-15 — 67% Latino | Friend of the podcast Bobby Pulido is running for this seat, which is now drawn as an R+12 Trump district. Like TX-28, the numbers here would have been unthinkable to political operatives fifteen years ago. Two-thirds Latino, and leaning Republican. Watch the margins here carefully — if Democrats are going to make a run at any of the South Texas seats, they’ll need to see movement in the underlying numbers first.

TX-34 — 63% Latino | Vicente Gonzalez holds this seat, which came in at Trump +10 in 2024. Another majority-Latino district that has been trending Republican. Gonzalez is an established incumbent with real roots in the community, but the structural headwinds are significant. Any erosion in Trump’s support among South Texas Latinos shows up here first.

TX-35 — 38% Latino | This is the sleeper race on the list. Republicans redrew the old Gregg Casar district, which ran from Austin down through San Antonio along I-35, gutting the liberal Austin base and creating a new seat that is 38-40% Latino, heavily concentrated around San Antonio, and rated R+12. The GOP assumed no Democrat could win it. They may have been wrong. There are multiple Latino candidates on both sides of the primary, including Marine veteran John Lyra on the Democratic side. This is a roll of the dice, and it could be the biggest surprise of 2026.

TX-33 — 57% Latino | The dynamics here make this one of the most analytically interesting races in the country. You have Colin Allred, who spent $31 million on TV running statewide for Senate and represents about half the district, running against Julie Johnson, a white progressive state rep who represents the other 45%, and who has secured endorsements from the entire Democratic House leadership, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus PAC, and every major Latino elected official in Dallas. The question of whether a coalition-endorsed white candidate or a nationally known Black candidate breaks through first tells us something important about how these communities align.

FLORIDA

FL-27 — 71% Latino | This is the Miami seat held by Maria Elvira Salinas, the former Univision anchor turned Republican congresswoman. At 71% Latino, it’s one of the highest Latino concentration districts in the country, but the composition matters as much as the number. Roughly 50-55% of those Latinos are Cuban, with growing Venezuelan, Central American, and South American communities making up the rest. Cuban-Americans have been among the most reliable Republican Latino voters in the country — but cracks are starting to show. Deportations of Cuban nationals under the Trump administration have rattled a community that historically viewed immigration enforcement as someone else’s problem. If Cuban support for Republicans slips even 5-10 points, Salinas has a real race on her hands.

CALIFORNIA

California’s redistricting produced a newly drawn map with several districts where Latino population share is at or near the 30% threshold that has historically — for thirty years — predicted which party wins the seat. Mike Madrid first documented this rule. It’s holding worth watching.

CA-22 — 52% Latino | The David Valadao seat in the Central Valley is the highest-profile California target on this list. It’s the most Latino-majority district held by a Republican in Congress, and Valadao has defied conventional wisdom for over a decade by repeatedly winning a seat that on paper shouldn’t be winnable for a Republican. Redistricting made it slightly more Democratic. Randy Villegas is the leading Democratic challenger. Mike Madrid’s prediction: Valadao loses in 2026. The question is whether Villegas or another Democrat emerges from the primary with enough funding to capitalize.

CA-13 — 41% Latino | The Adam Gray seat in the Central Valley, running from Stockton down to Modesto, is a different story. Gray is a skilled, moderate Democrat who won the seat in 2024 despite a strong rightward shift among Latinos in the region. Redistricting nudged the seat slightly more Democratic. In a favorable year for Democrats, this should be a lean-Dem hold. The real test comes in a presidential year, when the electorate expands and the Latino shift either reverses or deepens.

CA-47 — 20% Latino | David Min’s seat in Orange County represents a new kind of competitive district: suburban, multiracial, and college-educated. Orange County Latinos are not farm workers or recent immigrants. They are homeowners, small business owners, and professionals whose voting patterns are more influenced by education and income than by ethnicity. The 20% Latino share is lower than other seats on this list, but the nature of that 20% (more Republican-leaning than in other parts of the state) makes it genuinely swing. This is where the old rulebook doesn’t apply.

CA-48 — 30% Latino | The seat in San Diego that Darrell Issa has held sits right at the magic 30% threshold after redistricting made it slightly more Democratic. It’s worth watching not just as a competitive seat, but as a test case for whether the 30% rule still holds in the current political environment.

NEW MEXICO

NM-2 — 39% Latino | Gabe Vasquez holds this seat, and has previously joined the podcast to discuss its Latino population. At 39% Latino in an R+1 or R+2 district, this is a genuine toss-up that requires near-perfect execution from Democrats every cycle. In a good Democratic year, Vasquez should be fine. In a bad one, this is one of the first seats to flip. It’s on the board either way.

NEW JERSEY

NJ-9 — 30% Latino | Passaic County, New Jersey, in Nellie Pou’s district is not where most people think of when they think of the Latino vote. This seat is 30% Latino, almost entirely Dominican and Puerto Rican, and it’s competitive. Chuck did door-knocking work here in 2025 and knows the community well. The diaspora politics here are distinct from anything happening in Texas or California, and the district is worth far more attention than it gets from national political media.

COLORADO

CO-8 — 30% Latino | The seat north of Denver is one of the clearest Democratic pickup opportunities on the map. A Latina congresswoman won the seat four years ago and lost it to Gabe Evans in the 2024 Trump wave. Now a Latino candidate is positioned to win the Democratic primary in a district that sits at the 30% threshold. The suburban Denver Latino community — more college-educated, more economically secure than many of the communities in other competitive districts — is a different voting bloc than the ones that dominate the Texas or California conversation. In a strong Democratic year, this should be a flip.

ARIZONA

AZ-6 — 20% Latino | Juan Ciscomani is the Republican Latino incumbent here, and he has become something of a case study in how the GOP can compete for Latino votes when they actually recruit and run Latino candidates. At 20% Latino, the district isn’t majority-minority — but in a close race, every percentage point matters. Democrats have been targeting this seat for two cycles. Whether they find a candidate who can match Ciscomani’s personal vote is the question.

A Little History for the Road

Mike drops a history lesson in honor of a date most people let pass without notice: February 18th, 1946 — the 80th anniversary of Mendez v. Westminster.

Eight years before Brown v. Board of Education, a Mexican family in Orange County, California sued their school district for forcing their children into segregated “Mexican schools.” The coalition that won that case, consisting of Mexican families, a Japanese family whose land had been seized during internment, the NAACP’s Thurgood Marshall filing an amicus brief, is a blueprint for what multiracial political organizing actually looks like.

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This Is Just the Beginning

We’re going to spend the next several months going deep on every one of these races. We’ll bring candidates in. We’ll track early vote. We’ll watch the numbers in real time. And when the results come in, we’ll tell you exactly what they mean for the future of Latino political power in this country.

The 2026 Latino Vote Battlefield is set.

DO YOU HAVE ANY RACES WITH DENSE LATINO POPULATIONS THAT WE MISSED? LET US KNOW BY COMMENTING BELOW!

Leave a comment

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Recorded February 18, 2026

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With Chuck Rocha out this week paying tribute to a dear friend, Mike Madrid takes the mic solo on the latest episode of the Latino Vote podcast. And he’s not holding back.

The Bad Bunny Moment

Mike opens with what he calls a pivotal inflection point: Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl, performed entirely in Spanish on the biggest stage in American entertainment. While Latino artists like Shakira, J.Lo, and Gloria Estefan have headlined before, this was different.

This was an artist whose entire brand exists in a separate language—no apologies, no translation, just unapologetic cultural presence at the center of American life.

The backlash was predictable. But it reveals something crucial: The people most driven by English-only ideology and “great replacement” fears are becoming a smaller share of the population. And like a dwarf star, they’re getting more intense and angry as they shrink. Until they eventually explode.

Mike has seen this before—in California in the 1990s with Prop 187, in Arizona with SB 1070 and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The GOP animated by racial animus became a marginalized faction in California politics. And nationally? Republicans are making the same mistakes “by tenfold,” he says.

Hard Truths About Latino Leadership

This is where Mike turns the critique inward, directly at Latino leadership itself.

The economic opportunity that immigrant groups have found in America for 250 years isn’t here the way it should be for Latinos. And Mike puts the blame squarely on Latino leaders themselves.

“If we keep looking for the system to fix itself, if we keep waiting for the parties to do right by us, it’s never going to happen,” he says. “That has never happened in history.”

His challenge to elected officials—whether on school boards, city councils, state legislatures, or Congress—is pointed: What are you doing to ameliorate the system, not just patch it up?

The Damning Statistics

Madrid doesn’t mince words when he cites the numbers: 70% of Latino take remedial classes when they graduate high school.

In blue states and cities, he argues, you can’t blame Republicans for that. “That’s on Democratic leadership. And how long are you going to put up with it?”

He questions what kind of legacy Latino leaders want: “You want a park named after you because housing got worse? Because our kids couldn’t read? Because healthcare became further out of reach?”

The Sign of Hope

After what he calls his “ranting and berating,” Madrid pivots to hope.

The biggest sign of hope isn’t coming from political leadership. It’s coming from Latino voters themselves.**

Latino voters are punishing both parties for their failures. Recent special elections in Texas and races throughout 2025 and 2026 show massive Latino shifts away from both Republicans and Democrats.

Meanwhile, Madrid notes, Black and white voters remain largely static, “getting angrier, more racially polarized, doing the same thing their communities have done for 150 years, and wondering why nothing gets better.”

Latino voters are voting the way democracy is supposed to work. When politicians fail, they fire them—regardless of party affiliation.

The Call to Action

Mike’s message to Latino leaders is clear:

If you’re a Latino Democrat, be an advocate for the Latino community first and a Democrat second.

If you’re a Latino Republican, be a Latino first and a Republican second.

Change doesn’t come from yelling louder about the other party, he argues. It comes from standing up to your own party and forcing change from within. He cites his own experience co-founding the Lincoln Project as an example of Republicans finally willing to fight against what was wrong in their own party.

”Stop patching the fence. Replace the whole damn fence.”

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Is Mike right? Are Latino voters leading the way in holding both parties accountable? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Chuck Rocha returns next episode!

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1. Why are Latino voters swinging harder than any other group in America?

2. Why are both Democrats and Republicans failing to deliver real results?

3. And why is representation no longer enough?

Mike challenges Latino elected officials across the country to stop patching up broken systems in education, housing, and economic opportunity, and instead have the courage to rebuild them entirely. His point: Latino voters may be the last true swing vote in America — not because they lack ideology, but because they’re demanding results.

Are Latino voters redefining American democracy — or exposing its failures?

Tune in for one of the most candid and consequential conversations of the season.

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Recorded February 11, 2026.

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Referenced in the episode:

• PPIC - 'Remedial Courses in Community Colleges are a Major Hurdle to Success': https://www.ppic.org/press-release/remedial-courses-in-community-colleges-are-major-hurdle-to-success/

• PPIC - 'Remedial Education in California’s Colleges and Universities': https://www.ppic.org/publication/remedial-education-in-californias-colleges-and-universities/

Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more episodes of The Latino Vote Podcast!

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Something extraordinary just happened in Texas that the national media barely covered.

Last Saturday, in a special election for Texas State Senate District 9, Democrats flipped a seat in Tarrant County—home of Fort Worth, Billy Bob’s, and more cowboy boots per capita than anywhere outside of a Brooks & Dunn concert.

But here’s the kicker: Latino precincts in Tarrant County swung 51 points toward Democrats.

Let that sink in: Fifty. One. Points.

Check out the precinct interactive map made by VoterHub: https://votehub.com/2026_txsd9_special

On the latest episode of the Latino Vote podcast, Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid dive deep into what this historic swing means for the future of Latino politics. Madrid, a Republican strategist with nearly four decades of campaign experience, admits he’s never seen anything like it.

Housing, Health Care, and Hope

Mike drops what might be the most important three words in Latino politics right now: Housing, Healthcare, and Hope.

Not identity politics. Not partisan talking points. Not whatever consultant-tested garbage either party is workshopping in focus groups.

Housing. Healthcare. Hope.

That’s the aspirational working-class agenda that’s actually moving Latino voters. That’s what won in Fort Worth. And that’s what both parties are too blind, too partisan, or too captured by their donor class to deliver.

“Start listening to what the community is telling you,” Madrid urges.

The Fort Worth results prove what happens when politicians actually speak to people’s real needs instead of treating them like demographic pawns in a partisan chess game.

Cultural Defiance: Bad Bunny’s Moment

Our hosts also explore what Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl halftime show really means for Latino representation in America.

This isn’t just entertainment, they argue. This is the biggest cultural moment in America—the one time everyone from 65-year-old white guys in Memphis to Latino kids in East LA watches the same thing at the same time. And the NFL chose a Puerto Rican artist who performs exclusively in Spanish.

Why? As Mike points out, the NFL knows demographics better than any political consultant in Washington. They know where America is going, even if MAGA Republicans are trying to build a wall to stop it.

“Just being Latino in America right now is an act of defiance,” Madrid says. “Just being Bad Bunny, being Latino in America right now is an act of defiance.”

Rocha encourages listeners to check out the New York Times Daily episode about Bad Bunny’s career, highlighting how the artist has refused to assimilate, refused to record in English, and refused to become what everyone wanted him to become. Bad Bunny canceled world tours to protect his people and made fans come to Puerto Rico to spend money in the local economy if they wanted to see him perform.

He’s been proudly, defiantly American while never compromising his culture or language. And now he’s on the biggest stage in American culture.

Watching the halftime show with friends and family? Send us your photos!

We want to see how the Latino Vote community celebrated this historic cultural moment.

• Tag us on your photo on X/Twitter @TheLatino_Vote: https://x.com/TheLatino_Vote

• Or on Bluesky @thelatinovote.bsky.social: https://bsky.app/profile/thelatinovote.bsky.social

• Or just simply comment on our substack!

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Mike and Chuck dig into what’s really driving Latino voters in 2026: an aspirational, working-class agenda centered on housing, health care, and hope. They unpack why immigration enforcement, economic pain, and cultural backlash are reshaping the electorate, why Republicans are panicking, and why Democrats can’t afford to blow this second chance.

The guys also preview Bad Bunny's upcoming Superbowl performance, its significant cultural reference, and the opposing alternative halftime show being pushed by MAGA Trumpers. Send us pictures of your Superbowl Halftime experience!

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Recorded February 4, 2026.

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Referenced in the episode:

• Votehub - 2026 Texas Senate District 9 Special Election Interactive Map: https://votehub.com/2026_txsd9_special

• ABC 7 | WJLA - 'Snowcrete' piles persist as DC leaders push cleanup efforts forward: https://wjla.com/news/local/snowcrete-piles-dc-leaders-push-cleanup-efforts-forward-winter-snow-storm-icicy-roads-streets-public-schools-open-mayor-bowser-residents-safety-community-removal-shovel-fines-senior-housing-sidewalks-streets-dmv

• The Guardian - Donald Trump announces plans for Indycar race through Washington DC streets: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jan/30/trump-indycar-grand-prix-washington-dc

• The New York Times - Bad Bunny’s All-American, All-Spanish, All-Eyes-on-Him Super Bowl: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/arts/music/bad-bunny-super-bowl-halftime-show.html

• KTLA5 - Kid Rock lyrics about underage girls draw questions ahead of ‘faith and family’-based TPUSA show: https://ktla.com/entertainment/kid-rock-lyrics-about-underage-girls-draw-questions-ahead-of-faith-and-family-based-tpusa-show

Check out the rest of the references and recent news on the latino vote on our website: https://latinos.vote/

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Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid mark the one-year anniversary of Trump's second term by dissecting the chaos of his first year back in office. From the Davos speech signaling the end of American global dominance to Trump's bizarre threats against Greenland, Chuck and Mike break down how the president has squandered political capital on foreign distractions instead of addressing what voters actually care about: gas and groceries.

Our hosts tackle Trump's immigration overreach, the symbolic terror of his deportation tactics, and how Democrats like Katie Porter and Abigail Spanberger are focusing on real kitchen-table issues like utility costs and childcare. Chuck shares insights from his work on James Talarico's Texas Senate race, including their strategic first ad buy during a Mexico vs. Panama soccer match, while Mike explains why this race could define Latino political identity for years to come.

Plus: Chuck announces an upcoming town hall with Senator Ruben Gallego, and previews his Valentine's weekend trip to Oaxaca. Unfiltered, unadulterated, and always speaking truth to power. Enjoy this episode of the Latino Vote Podcast.

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Recorded January 21, 2026

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Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more episodes of The Latino Vote Podcast!

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The Only Swing Voters Left

While Black and white working-class voters remain locked in partisan corners—moving only 2-3% between elections—Latino voters are swinging 11-15%. They’re the only true swing voting bloc left in America.

“We’re the only voting group that is voting in a rational way in an irrational system. When things are bad and people [politicians] lie to you and they reneg on their campaign promises, throw them out. Is that so weird? Like that’s the whole way the system’s supposed to be.”

- Mike Madrid

Latinos did it with Biden-Harris in 2024. They kicked out Republicans across the country in 2025. And in March 2026, they’ll determine crucial races across the country, starting in Texas.

Housing: The Latino Issue

Senator Ruben Gallego just dropped a housing plan: 8 million new affordable units, built strong, with red tape cut. Mike’s take? It’s the Latino issue.

Mike’s argument: You can’t solve the affordability crisis until you solve housing. When you’re paying 40-50% of income on rent, you feel the price of everything else.

God & Politics

How did Republicans win the Rio Grande Valley? They systematically infiltrated Baptist churches.

Chuck’s story: his immigrant parents met at a Baptist church in Texas. It’s the story of countless families—and where Republicans found prime real estate for their messaging.

Now James Talarico, a Texas state rep running for Senate, is making the case for reclaiming Christian values for progressive politics. Mike and Chuck break down his Ezra Klein podcast appearance and why faith-based messaging matters for Latino voters.

What’s Coming in 2026

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Chuck has identified 27 congressional seats where Latino voters will be decisive—and that’s not the complete list. Add in multiple Senate races and gubernatorial contests, and 2026 becomes the year that proves whether either party understands the new electoral reality.

In Texas, a chaotic Republican primary between John Cornyn and embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton could create unexpected Democratic opportunities. Meanwhile, candidates like James Talarico are testing whether values-based messaging can win back Latino voters, while the Dallas House race between Colin Allred and Julie Johnson will demonstrate how Latinos navigate choices in diverse coalitions.

The bigger question: Can Democrats rebuild trust by actually delivering on issues like housing, or will they continue to take Latino votes for granted? Latino voters will determine the balance of power in Congress and set the trajectory for American politics through 2050.

The only question is which party will meet the moment.

And About those Gorillas…

However, let’s start 2026 off right: with Chuck’s harrowing tales from Africa. A 400-pound silverback approaches Chuck in the Rwandan jungle. No glass. No barrier. The gorilla hip-checks him, then sits down in his back pocket. Chuck’s trying to record his own death “so Mike can put this on TV.”

It’s classic Rocha storytelling: absurd, hilarious, and somehow deeply human. But even the gorilla adventure serves as a metaphor for the political landscape the hosts navigate—unpredictable, occasionally dangerous, and requiring both respect for powerful forces and the courage to engage directly.

Referenced in this Episode:

→ Senator Ruben Gallego’s ‘Path Home’ Housing Affordability Plan
Watch the video that has Mike Madrid saying “This is straight out of my book!”
View on X/Twitter →

→ ‘Can James Talarico Reclaim Christianity for the Left?’
From the Ezra Klein podcast - the conversation Chuck and Mike reference about faith and Texas politics
Listen on NYT →

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In this episode, Mike breaks down the stunning data showing that while other voters remain locked in partisan camps with only 2-3% swings, working-class Latinos are swinging 11-15% between elections—making them the only true swing voting bloc left in America. From kicking out Republicans across the country in 2025 to determining crucial Texas House races in March of this year, Mike and Chuck explore why Latino voters' willingness to hold politicians accountable regardless of party might be the most rational response in an otherwise polarized system.

Plus: reflections on faith and politics in Latino communities, the inside story of the Jasmine Crockett-Colin Allred Senate race dynamics, and why this generational transformation will define American politics through 2050. And yes, Chuck shares what it's really like to sit face-to-face with silverback gorillas (spoiler: there's no glass between you).

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Recorded: January 14, 2026

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Referenced in the episode:

• Check out Senator Ruben Gallego's 'Path Home' housing affordability plan video: https://x.com/SenRubenGallego/status/2011451211225166201

• 'Can James Talarico Reclaim Christianity for the Left?' form the Ezra Klein podcast: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-james-talarico.html

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Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more episodes of The Latino Vote Podcast!

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CHECK OUT IBARRA'S LATEST WORK

Mickey Ibarra had it made. After four years as Assistant to President Clinton—with a West Wing office and connections across America—he’d launched a successful lobbying firm in Washington.

But something felt wrong.

“I was losing my platform to advocate for my community and our leadership.”

That realization changed everything. For 22 years now, Mickey has been on a mission: preserve the Latino story before it’s lost.

The Archive He is Building

The Latino Leaders Network has hosted 77 leadership luncheons and 43 Tributes to Mayors—systematically documenting Latino achievement across politics, business, education, entertainment, and community organizing.

The requirement? Leaders must share their personal stories of obstacles overcome.

“I feel so strongly about the power of our stories, the inspiration, the motivation, and the importance of us sharing our stories,” Mickey says.

Those keynote addresses are now compiled in his latest work: Latino Leaders Speak: Personal Stories of Struggle and Triumph, Volume II, which you can find on Arte Público Press—the nation’s largest publisher of Latino authors.

Why It Matters

Mickey himself didn’t share his story publicly until he was already in the White House. He spent his first 15 years in foster care in Utah, struggling with identity, separated from his father—a Zapotec bracero from Oaxaca who was drafted into the Army while undocumented and later owned a Sacramento beauty salon.

But watching Bill Clinton’s “The Man from Hope” video changed something. Mickey realized vulnerability inspires. Authenticity matters. Stories have power.

His own story appears in Volume Two, alongside leaders like Senator Alex Padilla, Arturo Vargas, and Maria Echaveste.

Beyond Individual Achievement

The network celebrates more than traditional political success. The upcoming 43rd Tribute to Mayors honors Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City—an African American mayor championing his Latino community.

“Every mayor in America is eligible,” Mickey explains. “Our main criteria? Doing right by the Latino community.”

It’s about preserving the full story of Latino impact across all of American society.

The Work Continues

Mickey is already thinking about Volume Three and succession planning.

“I will not live long enough to present the Eagle Leadership Award to everybody that deserves it. The Latino Leaders Network needs to be my lasting legacy. It needs to continue.”

“We will never run out of powerful stories that need to be told. We have so many role models, so many heroes in our community.”

His advice for the next generation echoes through both volumes:

“Get inspired. Get prepared. And get ready to lead.”

Get the Book: Latino Leaders Speak: Volume Two Order from Arte Público Press (support Latino publishers)

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On this episode of the Latino Vote Voices: Mike Madrid sits down with the former Assistant to President Clinton who went from Utah foster care to the West Wing, and is now preserving Latino stories for future generations.

Mickey opens up about his father's path from bracero worker in Oaxaca to successful small business owner in Sacramento, and how reconnecting with his Mexican heritage at age 15 transformed his life during the height of the Chicano movement in 1966. He recounts witnessing Robert F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey campaign in 1968, following his father's footsteps to serve in Germany during the Vietnam era, and ultimately finding his calling in public service.

As founder of the Latino Leaders Network and author of the newly released "Latino Leaders Speak: Volume Two," Mickey discusses his mission to preserve and celebrate Latino success stories across all sectors of American society. He reflects on the parallels between the turbulent 1960s and today's political climate, offering wisdom on how young Latinos can navigate uncertainty and prepare for opportunities they can't yet imagine.

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Recorded Jan 12, 2026.

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Check out Mickey Ibarra's latest work: 'Latino Leaders Speak: Personal Stories of Struggle and Triumph, Volume II' -
https://artepublicopress.com/product/latino-leaders-speak-personal-stories-of-struggle-and-triumph-volume-ii/

Latino Leaders Network Website: https://www.latinoleadersnetwork.org/latino-leaders-speak

Bill Clinton's ad referenced in the episode: 'A Man From Hope' - https://mediaburn.org/videos/the-man-from-hope/

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Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more episodes of The Latino Vote Podcast!

Watch our episodes on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

Find us on Substack: https://substack.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

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Visit our website for the latest Latino Vote news and subscribe to our newsletter: latinos.vote

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Visit our Website

“Good vs. Power: From Venezuela to Minnesota Streets” drops as America grapples with fundamental questions about who we are and what we’re willing to tolerate. Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid don’t shy away from the hard stuff in this season premiere. Instead, they lean into it with the unflinching honesty that’s made this podcast essential listening for anyone trying to understand Latino politics and American democracy.

When Policy Becomes Violence

Fresh from visiting Rwanda’s genocide memorial, Chuck returns to witness another American tragedy: 37-year old Renee Good shot three times in the face by ICE agents in Minnesota.

Mike Madrid doesn’t mince words: “A woman lost her life yesterday morning, Chuck, mother of three, a poet, killed by her own government without due process.”

This wasn’t an accident. “There’s no way this could have ended any differently other than violently when you triple the size of ICE, when you flood the streets of America with masked law enforcement officers that are untrained and armed,” Mike explains. “This isn’t the last time this is going to happen folks. It’s going to happen with regularity. That’s the point.”

The administration is offering $50,000 bonuses to recruit new ICE agents. Mike’s assessment is chilling: “It’s like the Proud Boys full employment act.”

From Venezuela to Greenland: The New World Order

The episode tackles Trump’s intervention in Venezuela head-on. Mike cuts through the noise: “What Trump is trying to say is it’s our sphere of influence. So we have the rights to go in because we want their stuff. If that sounds exactly like what Vladimir Putin used as justification to go into Ukraine, it’s because it is.”

Canada is building up armaments and recruiting militia because of America’s aggressive posture. Think about that. Canada is preparing to defend themselves from us.

“We’re Russia,” Mike says flatly. “We’re behaving like Russia now, both foreign and domestic.”

Latino Politics 2.0: From Representation to Results

Mike delivers the episode’s most important insight: “The chapter in Latino political history that was overly focused on representation is transitioning to Latino 2.0, which is gonna be focused on results.”

Two politicians who overperformed most with Latinos? Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump—”old white dudes with populist messages.”

“The community doesn’t need Latino representation. The community needs Latino results,” Mike declares. “And if our people aren’t gonna follow the data, follow the results and start providing it, they will go vote for somebody else. And you know what, brother, they should.”

His challenge to Latino legislators: “Quit looking to your progressive, culturally progressive members of your caucuses and kneeling to their agenda. Grab them by the scruff of their neck and say, we will take care of all of your social progressive issues once people can feed their kids. How about that being the priority?”

Why It Matters

As Texas primaries begin in six weeks, Chuck and Mike are tracking contested races that will determine the direction of the Democratic Party. Pennsylvania’s 7th District: a white union firefighter backed by Bernie leading against a Latina candidate in a 27% Latino district.

These aren’t abstract debates. They’re about whether we prioritize working-class economics or symbolic representation. Whether we choose good or power.

Mike reminds us: “The warriors have to lay down the shield and the sword and beat them into plowshares as the good book says. There has to be a time and a season where things move on. But the work is not done yet.”

Don’t forget: Like, subscribe, and share this with everyone who needs to understand what actually works with Latino voters.

Share The Latino Vote Podcast

Want more Latino Vote Podcast?

• Check out our website:

https://latinos.vote/

• Watch our episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

• Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music

Consider becoming a supporter by pledging to our Substack! Your donation helps improve our podcast! Remember: 2026 will be a big year for the Latino Vote!

Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid return from the holiday break with heavy hearts as they tackle a tumultuous start to 2026. Our hosts dissect the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota, Trump's intervention in Venezuela, and what these events signal about America's shift toward authoritarianism both at home and abroad.

Drawing on Chuck’s recent travels in Africa and reflections on history, genocide, faith, and humanity, the conversation explores how fear is weaponized, how power is exercised, and why the rule of law feels increasingly fragile. Mike connects the dots between global instability, domestic policy, and the political consequences already reshaping Latino communities—especially as primaries approach in Texas and beyond.

But this isn't just doom and gloom. Mike and Chuck chart a path forward for Democrats in 2026, arguing that Latino voters—and all Americans who believe in good over power—need results now.

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Recorded December 8, 2026.

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Don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more episodes of The Latino Vote Podcast!

Watch our episodes on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

Find us on Substack: https://substack.com/@thelatinovotepodcast

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/TheLatino_Vote

Visit our website for the latest Latino Vote news and subscribe to our newsletter: latinos.vote

If you want more of our discussions and behind the scenes please join our Patreon (www.patreon.com/thelatinovote) for exclusive content and opportunities!