TEXAS POLL: Pocketbook issues dominate Hispanic voters’ priorities, yet nearly 7 in 10 feel the President and Republicans are not focusing enough attention on the economy

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8 in 10 Texan Hispanic Voters Want Stronger Checks on Presidential Powers

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TX — UnidosUS, the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, released a new bipartisan poll today showing Hispanic voters in the state want elected officials to focus on the costs of living, healthcare, housing and on strengthening wages. However, 66% of Latino voters in Texas believe Republicans in Congress and President Trump are failing to focus enough on the economy. Gun violence ranks as the fifth most important issue in Texas. 

An overwhelming 81% of Texas Latino voters are concerned that Congress is not fulfilling its checks-and-balances role and is ceding too much of its constitutional authority to the President and the executive branch. 

Latinos are the nation’s second-largest voting-age population and a critical group whose priorities should carry significant weight, particularly in an environment of razor-thin margins. Nearly 3 in 4 Texas Hispanic voters say they are certain or likely to vote in the 2026 midterm election and if the election was held today, 53% would support the Democratic House candidate and 28% the Republican. However, both parties underperform when compared to voter support levels in 2024, likely a sign of voter discontent.

The findings come from the Bipartisan Poll of Hispanic Voters: The Road to 2026, a large-scale poll of 3,000 Latino registered voters across the U.S., including an oversample of 400 Latino voters in Texas.

The survey also found that 64% of Texas Latino voters hold the President and Republicans responsible for the federal government shutdown, compared with 21% who blame Democrats. On job performance, 64% disapprove of how Republicans are handling Congress, and 66% disapprove of President Trump’s performance. Among those who voted for him in 2024, 19% would not vote for him in a do-over, compared to 1% of Harris voters who would not vote for her.

“Texas has a long tradition of defending state sovereignty and demanding accountability from our nation’s leaders in Washington,” said UnidosUS Texas Policy Director Eric Holguín. “Instead, our families are getting runaway executive power, rising costs and culture war distractions. Families are being torn apart, and businesses are suffering due to aggressive ICE raids happening across the state. Instead of Congress doing its job and putting our communities first, they are playing games with our lives.”

  • Click HERE to watch a replay of today’s webinar.
  • Click HERE to see a slide presentation of the poll’s Texas toplines.
  • Click HERE to view demographic crosstabs.
  • For interactive Latino poll results, see Hispanic Electorate Data Hub.

“At Tejano Center, we’re seeing communities wrestling with uncertainty and searching for stability in a time of change. Our role is to help reignite momentum — to remind our neighbors that the direction of our community and the strength of our future are driven by their own involvement and collective action, while also walking beside them to navigate complex systems and connect them to the critical resources they need right now,” said Graci Garces, Chief Strategy & External Affairs Officer at Tejano Center.

Key findings on Texas Latino voters include:

On Issues and Economic Landscape

  • Four of the top five priorities for Hispanic voters in Texas continue to be driven by pocketbook issues: 
    • #1 Cost of living/inflation (56%) — Cost of food and basic living expenses, housing affordability, gas prices and electricity bills. 
    • #2 Health care (34%) — Rising health care costs, monthly premiums, co-pays and deductibles. 
    • #3 Jobs and economy (32%) — Wages, job security, prices and job creation. 
    • #4 Housing (31%) — Rising cost of rent and cost of electricity, utilities, taxes, home insurance, home maintenance/repairs and lack of affordable housing. 
    • #5 Gun violence (22%) — Guns and assault weapons are too easy to get, need community safety/mental health programs, elected officials action to put an end to school/mass shootings (details from previous UnidosUS poll)
  • 66% believe President Trump and congressional Republicans are not focusing enough on improving the economy. 
  • Compared to last year, 44% say their personal financial situation is about the same as last year, 39% say it’s worse, and only 14% say they are doing better. 
  • Looking ahead to next year, 52% believe the Trump administration’s economic policies will make them worse off.

On the Political Landscape and Environment

  • Military deployments: A majority (69%) do not support the way in which military deployments are occurring, including 33% who believe federal military deployments should not happen at all.
  • Civil rights: 61% of Texas Latino voters believe civil rights and liberties are less secure since President Trump took office.
  • Political violence: 48% are concerned they or someone they know will be a victim of political violence.
    • 45% hold Republicans more responsible for increased political violence, in contrast to 19% holding Democrats responsible. 28% hold both parties responsible.
  • Views of the parties: 55% say the Democratic Party cares a great deal about the Latino community, while 30% say the same of the Republican Party. 
    • In contrast, 37% say the Republican Party is hostile towards the Latino community, compared with 7% who say that of the Democratic Party.
  • Which party is better on specific issues: Hispanic voters say they trust Democrats more to handle health care (58%), followed by inflation and affordability (55%), voting rights (54%), cost of housing and climate change (53%), immigration reform and taxes (50%) and gun policy (49%). The strongest issue for Republicans was border security, but practically tied with Democrats (35% and 36%, respectively).

On Immigration 

  • In Texas, concern about immigration enforcement is high; 73% oppose allowing ICE to use appearance, language, or work/manual labor as grounds for immigration arrests. 
  • On recent immigration policies and actions, 41% said people fear immigration authorities will arrest them even if they’re U.S. citizens or have legal status; 35% said employers have lost workers because people fear they’ll be arrested if they go to work; 31% said people are more afraid to attend asylum hearings or immigration appointments; and 30% of children are missing classes because their parents fear being arrested while taking their kids to school. 
  • Top immigration policy priorities include a path to citizenship for law-abiding and long-residing undocumented individuals, including those brought here as children (44%); ensuring detention facilities are safe, sanitary and humane once immigrants are detained (35%); ensuring people in deportation proceedings have a chance to make their case in court (34%); and cracking down on human smugglers and drug traffickers (33%).

Earlier this week, UnidosUS held a virtual press briefing highlighting the national poll results. 

About the Bipartisan Poll of Hispanic Voters: The Road to 2026 Bipartisan pollster team, BSP Research and Shaw & Co.

  • Total N=3,000 voters 
  • N= 400 per: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Texas
  • Margin of error +/- 1.8%. 
  • Field Dates: October 8–22, 2025
  • Survey available in English and Spanish, according to respondent preference
  • Mixed mode: live phones, text invites, online panels.

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About BSP Research

BSP Research is a Latino-owned polling, research, and analytics firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2021 by Matt Barreto and Gary Segura, who have more than two decades of experience in national polling and research, BSP Research is a leading research and analytic firm with expertise on the political and social views of the American population and beyond. BSP has industry-leading expertise in culturally competent research on communities of color and other forms of disadvantage, and extensive experience in bilingual polling and data gathering from all varieties of communities. 

 

About Dr. Daron R. Shaw

Dr. Shaw is president of Shaw & Company Research and is a professor in the Government Department at the University of Texas at Austin. He teaches American Government, Campaigns & Elections, Public Opinion & Voting Behavior, and Political Parties. Professor Shaw currently serves as one half of the bipartisan polling team for Fox News and is a member of the Fox News Decision Team. He is also associate PI for the 2020 and 2024 American National Election Studies and is co-director of the University of Texas Poll.