(RIVERSIDE, Calif.) — As battleground states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan transformed one by one from neutral shades to red on the election maps used by news outlets to explain Election Night to nervous Americans, it was impossible to ignore the shock rippling through the country. Even more astonishing was the wave of many longstanding Democratic counties flipping Republican in 2024. Among them was Southern California’s Riverside County — famous for its citrus fruit production and reliably liberal since Barack Obama’s historic win in 2008. Yet in 2024, Donald Trump succeeded in painting it red.

But amid the biggest surprises was how Latinos voted. Last year, the Census Bureau reported that Latinos were the largest demographic group in Riverside, surpassing whites by a significant margin due to decades of Mexican immigration related to the development of the citrus industry, where many migrant workers settled. 

In early July, Pew Research showed that half of Latino voters had confidence in Donald Trump’s economic policy management. The data indicated that 52% of Latino voters trusted the Republican candidate, while the remaining 48% supported Joe Biden, who stepped down from the presidential race in mid-July. 

Democrats were misled by the polls’ outcome and failed to see the shift. The transition from Biden to Kamala Harris had a ripple effect; she immediately won back the sympathy of Latino voters, which was reflected in surveys conducted from September through October, predicting that Latino voters would favor Harris over Trump.

Yet, Latinos for Trump were outspoken about their reasons for supporting Trump, a felon who has been found guilty on 34 counts, including falsification of business records and election obstruction, and who has reiterated that his top priority is signing an executive order to conduct massive deportations. 

The new poll results brought enthusiasm to the Riverside County Democratic Party committee, which placed its hopes in the Latino community. “Riverside County will go predominantly blue again. We have a diverse team of Spanish and English speakers who are working hard,” said Michael Finland, a member of the RCDP, which was campaigning for a Harris win. Finland also acknowledged that some Latinos resent the Biden-Harris administration due to California’s high cost of gas, alluding to their disapproval of some of the administration’s economic policies. “We understand that they feel let down, but when we explain to those Latino voters what Project 2025 entails, they react surprised, realizing the negative impact it’ll have in their lives,” he noted.

Indeed, the economy was not the only topic motivating Latinos to shift towards a Trump vote. Interestingly, religion also played a huge role in the migration from blue to red for many voters. Martha Howard, a local activist and candidate for the city council, believes religion is a massive force against the Democratic party. Howard explained that division among Latinos emerged from the conservative religious beliefs Republicans say they stand for. “When Trump and JD Vance start associating religion with their pro-life campaign, they win the sympathy of millions of Latinos,” she said. Howard noted that in Latin countries, abortion is considered sinful. Of the 33 countries comprising Latin America, only five have passed laws granting women reproductive rights. “The Catholic church promotes patriarchy, machismo, control of women, and violence, leading to a pervasive division,” Howard said. The Diocese of San Bernardino reported that it serves 1.6 million Catholics in Riverside County, of whom 70% are Latino.

Aldo Yanez, a PhD in Political Science and Norco College professor, explained that when polling the Latino vote, the results will always reflect division. “It doesn’t matter what Pew Research or Telemundo predicts, the Hispanic vote is divided because Latino populations are very diverse,” Yanez said. “The political views of a Latino that lives in California will be different to the Latino that lives in Florida,” he said.

But Latinos who come around to support Trump say they have a strong set of values fueling their support. Cynthia Navarro, 40, an elementary school teacher who voted for Biden in 2020, shifted to Republican for the recent election. She also ran for State Senate District 31 Riverside and lost to her Democrat opponent, Sabrina Cervantes. Navarro, born and raised in the Inland Empire, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. However, she embraces Trump’s anti-immigration policies. “Crime rates in this country have gone through the roof. I live two hours away from the border, and it is scary going outside and feeling unsafe,” she said. 

Navarro and other Trump supporters continue to say these things despite data showing otherwise. In a statement released in September 2024, the National Institute of Justice said that undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of U.S.-born citizens for violent and drug crimes and a quarter of the rate for property crimes.

Another hot topic among Latino Trump supporters was the issue of transgender rights. Navarro noted that in her school board meetings, she has seen parents upset by the government’s influence on how children should be disciplined. “As a teacher, I care about my students and all the children. We must protect them from this agenda that Kamala has in her plan to discipline the children about gender in schools,” Navarro said. According to her, Democrats want to take the power away from parents over their kids. “As a mother, I don’t support that rule that schools should decide on kids’ pronouns without talking to the parents first,” she said.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, gender pronoun preference is a legal right in California public schools. Intentional refusal to use people’s pronouns that correspond to their gender identity is considered a violation of  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the California Education Code, both of which prohibit discrimination based on sex. 

Like Navarro, Eric Alvarenga, 30, a construction worker, thinks that the country needs Trump’s severe anti-immigration policies. Alvarenga’s parents immigrated from El Salvador, fleeing the deadly guerrilla wars, and were granted asylum in the U.S. in the 1980s. “Kamala and Biden have turned this country into a mess by opening the border to millions of illegal immigrants and giving them the benefits that by right only belong to us Americans,” he said. Alvarenga added that the new Latino generations have to let go of the ideology that Democrats care about them. “As a millennial, I once thought that Democrats were our heroes, but honestly, it is quite the opposite,”  he said.

 Yanez said that the discontent of Latinos in Riverside County could be justified. “Factories and restaurants are the jobs most Latinos from Riverside rely on, earning a minimum wage of $16 an hour, it is hurtful for them to pay $80 to $100 when they go to the gas station,” he said.

In March 2024, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office reported that 59% of Latinos work minimum-wage jobs in Riverside, making them the largest demographic group earning low wages, compared to 23% of Whites and 3% of Blacks. With lower wages in the equation for many Latino voters, lower living costs and inflation rates were key issues influencing their vote.

Ray Carbajal, a son of Mexican parents and pundit for the Republican Party, said that his major concern is the economic downfall the United States has suffered in the last four years. He called Vice President Harris too dangerous and incompetent to govern the U.S. “We want to have more money in our checking accounts, and that is impossible when you go to the grocery store and have to pay $100 for only a few items, inflation is slowly killing us,” he added. This political rhetoric is often used to incite voter enthusiasm, but research has shown that neither the president of the United States nor other federal agencies directly control food prices. This doesn’t stop politicians and their supporters from using inflation as a talking point. “Trump is the only one that can save us,” said Carbajal, waving a large red MAGA flag.

Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election by a majority of votes. On January 20, he will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. During his victory speech, Trump said his massive deportation plan has ‘no price tag,’ implying that family separations will happen again and that everyone who is undocumented is at risk of being deported. Christian, 38, an undocumented immigrant from Riverside who has worked in landscaping since 2005, said he feels anxious about his uncertain future. “I work seven days a week. I’ve never been in trouble with the law, and I’m sure millions of immigrants are in the same position. Me, my wife and our kids, we are getting mentally and emotionally prepared for the worst scenario,” said Christian as he hung ornaments on the Christmas tree at his modest apartment. Yet Christian has a glimmer of hope that he will make it through Trump’s second term, just as in 2016.

While the RCDP is still trying to understand why Riverside flipped red, the working class — in which Latinos are the largest demographic — expressed feelings of abandonment by the Biden-Harris administration. Yanez advised the RCDP to refocus on the interests of the working class in the coming years to reclaim those blue votes and flip Riverside Democrat again by the 2028 election. “The working class felt that their voices didn’t matter. With this election result, they sent a powerful message to the Democratic Party,” he said.