The New York Times: In a Texas Border Town, Democratic Officials Are Becoming Republicans
No one wants to run as a Democrat.
The New York Times reports on why Hispanics are quitting the Democrat Party in droves.
In Case You Missed It…
In a Texas Border Town, Democratic Officials Are Becoming Republicans
The New York Times
David Goodman
February 24, 2022
In a remote corner of West Texas along the Rio Grande, where cactuses far outnumber residents and the closest grocer is an hour’s drive, a quiet political upheaval has been taking place.
First, the Democratic county judge said she would seek another term — as a Republican. Then the county clerk and the treasurer decided that they too would abandon the Democratic Party, which has long held sway in local elections, and run this year as Republicans.
A county justice of the peace felt the urge to switch parties as well, but she did not want to disappoint her parents, who raised her as a Democrat.
“It took me a while to realize that my thoughts are more Republican,” said the justice of the peace, Corina Arredondo, particularly on the issues of abortion and border security. “Even though I’m still on this side, I’m kind of looking over there and thinking, hey, that’s where I belong.”
The transformation of local politics in Terrell County — a working-class border community of fewer than 1,000 people — provides an ominous signal for Texas Democrats: Conservative Hispanics are not only realigning in presidential elections, but also in contests much closer to home.
“Being of a Hispanic background, we were always told, you’re a Democrat,” said the county treasurer, Rebecca Luevano, 44, who was raised in Sanderson, where most county residents live. “Everybody was a Democrat the last time I ran.”
Split political allegiances had held in the small town for much longer than in other parts of the country. Even as residents voted overwhelmingly for President Donald J. Trump in both 2016 and 2020, continuing their support for every Republican presidential candidate since George W. Bush, its top local officials remained with the Democratic Party.
The party was deeply connected to the upbringing of many residents, raised in a grid of modest homes in a canyon valley about 20 rough miles from the Mexican border. Many worked at the railroad depot that fueled the town’s growth, or had relatives who did, before it closed more than two decades ago.
“My mother’s dad worked for the railroad and he always said that the Democratic Party is for the working man,” said Les Chandler II, the chair of the county party. “That’s why I’ve been a Democrat my whole life.”
…
“We aren’t a main stop like we used to be,” said the county judge, Dale Lynn Carruthers, 53, a rancher and former bank manager whose grandfather came from Mexico and whose father was sheriff. “Now we’re a hub — a hub of homeland security.”
Politics in Sanderson have been shaped, in recent months, by the sharp increase in the number of people crossing the border from Mexico.
Not only are more people being caught as they move through the county, but Ms. Carruthers said that many more appear to be dying in the harsh terrain: 16 migrants were found dead last year. In recent years, the county averaged about two deaths.
…
“The Democrats here are kind of closeted Democrats,” said Mr. Chandler, 64, who became the party chair last year after answering an ad in the post office. The political shift in county government came as a surprise, but not a shock.
Still, when it came time to make a decision about switching parties last fall, Ms. Thompson, the county clerk, said she was apprehensive. So was Ms. Luevano, the treasurer. They went together — “kind of like sisters,” Ms. Thompson said — to make the change in a community building. Both Mr. Chandler and Sharon Wolfe, the Republican chair, were there.
“We waited until the last day, the last hour,” Ms. Thompson said. “We go in there and I turned to Miss Wolfe and said, ‘I’m running Republican,’ and she goes — ‘Oh!’ They had no idea.”
Both women are unopposed in the March 1 primary. Neither will have a Democratic opponent in November.
Read the full story from The New York Times, HERE.