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Immigrants rushing to the border. President Biden’s debate performance. Interest rates are high. Philippe can elaborate on why he voted for President-elect Donald Trump.
But that doesn’t mean first-generation Mexican Americans are full-throated Republicans. And he certainly doesn’t want his neighbors to know how he voted.
“Downey is a small community,” he said as he walked with his wife and two dogs down quiet streets of lush lawns and wide, flat streets at dusk. Supporting Trump will turn people around here against you.
The suburb of Downey, about 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, has become a landing spot for wealthy, upwardly mobile Latinos, earning it the nickname “The Beverly Hills of Mexico.” And like many other middle- and working-class parts of the southeastern county, so-called gateway cities, we’re seeing a shift in support for Donald Trump.
Mr. Trump didn’t win any of Downey’s districts outright, but he closed the gap with his Democratic rivals, and in doing so, there were some awkward moments at family gatherings such as the Phillips.
President Trump’s LA wins
While Kamala Harris easily took control of Los Angeles County, Donald Trump made significant inroads into diverse communities. The Times visited three locations to understand the changes.
Downey’s poll showed Trump’s approval rating rose 18.8 points in November compared to the 2020 presidential election, which saw record turnout. Other cities in the southeastern part of the county rose even further, but Democrat Kamala Harris remained firmly in the lead. Trump’s gains between the two elections were 28.6 points in Bell, 27.3 points in Bell Gardens and 24.1 points in Huntington Park.
“These numbers should be a wake-up call for Democrats,” said Sarah Sadhwani, an assistant professor of political science at Pomona College. “They won these cities, but clearly their margins are declining. This is a question about the future of the Democratic Party and how active they are and how they listen to the largest and growing segment of the American public. It raises a lot of questions about whether it’s going to tilt.”
The Trump phenomenon has changed the political landscape and family dinner conversations in the Gateway City, which, like the rest of Los Angeles County, has a Democratic majority.
“There’s a stigma,” said Philip, 38, a construction contractor who asked that his last name not be used for that very reason. His wife said there is tension in the Democratic family. Her father, who gets his news from Univision, voted for Harris. And she is frustrated that newly arrived asylum seekers are detained while their families struggle to obtain citizenship.
A closer look at data from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office shows more than a dozen cities in the Southeast have seen a 20-point swing or more for Trump since 2020. Biden won in Downey by a 35.1% margin. , while Harris won with 16.3%, a margin of 18.8 points.
Phillip said she voted for President Obama, but she’s not the only one in her neighborhood to switch from blue to red.
The city of 114,000 people is 75% Latino, and many of its successful residents came to the city with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Median household income is $97,000, slightly higher than the rest of California, but education levels are low, with about a quarter of all residents holding a bachelor’s degree. This is not a city built on old money.
“For Latinos, Downey is like a success,” said Luis Alvarado, a political consultant and former Republican who specializes in local elections in southeastern Los Angeles County. “We have always been ideologically, culturally and religiously conservative.”
He said many Latinos now support or ignore President Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and promise of mass deportation.
An estimated 54% of Latino male voters nationwide voted for Trump in this election, compared to 39% of Latino men, according to NEP and Edison exit polls. Overall, 51% of Latinos voted for Harris, compared to 46% for Trump, according to the poll.
“We have eliminated immigration as an identifier,” Alvarado said. “It doesn’t define us as Latinos, but rather how the rest of America feels about us when it comes to issues of safety, economic advancement, and leaving a legacy for our children. I’ll leave it at that.”
Downey isn’t just inching toward the right in a vacuum. Across blue California, voters were frustrated by homelessness, the economy, and a rash of purse-snatching robberies. They firmly rejected progressive policies and candidates.
An initiative to impose harsher penalties for drug possession won, but another initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage failed. Voters rejected efforts to eliminate forced prison labor and allow stronger rent control laws.
But the vitriol caused by President Trump has created an environment of self-repression in cities that remain heavily Democratic.
“Many of us sympathize with his policies, but are afraid to voice our opinions because of the potential for judgment and retaliation,” said the longtime Downey City Councilman, police chaplain and Republican campaign strategist. Mario Guerra, who is also a government official, said. “Nobody wants that kind of stigma attached to them, but [are] There are a lot of hidden Trumpers out there. ”
Guerra feels liberals are labeling Trump and his supporters as bigots. “People are afraid that Trump will be seen as racist, anti-women, anti-gay rights, anti-immigrant, whatever they call it.”
“I’m not like that,” he added. “I’m a refugee. I have two gay brothers. I support everyone’s rights.”
For most of its history, Downey was a white rural town and then a center for the aerospace industry. It was never a liberal bastion. The area is reminiscent of Midwestern Americana, but thick with palm trees. It’s home to Carpenter’s, the first Taco Bell, and the oldest McDonald’s in existence. The Space Shuttle Challenger was built here, and the city proudly restores the original mock-up.
Unlike surrounding cities, Downey has its own police and fire department, as well as a hospital, newspaper office, shopping mall, and vibrant business district. One-third of residents are foreign-born, and the city has a strong Cuban community. City officials say Downey residents value their properties and don’t want them threatened by crime or the economy. They focus on first responders and passed a sales tax in November to increase funding for public safety.
“What residents want most from their elected officials and government is protection. Protect their families, protect their property, and we will give it to them,” said the recently re-elected president. said Downey Mayor Mario Trujillo, a gay Democrat.
He is not surprised by the shift to the right. It has long been well known that the City Council is largely Republican. In 2020, progressives changed their vote. This was followed by a recall of tenant rights advocates and a vote of no confidence in the District. Atty. Georges Gascon and the city’s policy banning the display of Pride flags on public buildings.
For Trujillo, who considers himself a moderate Democrat, this signaled a change of direction.
“Many of the residents are entrepreneurs, wealthy families, and tend to be conservative,” he says.
Not everyone agrees near Gallatin Road.
“The majority of Latinos don’t accept President Trump because he’s a racist,” said Rosa Hurtado, who recently moved to the neighborhood.
Philip said he wants to vote for the person who is best for him, his family and his business. The promised tax cuts will help his business, and he expects interest rates to fall under the Trump administration, so he can refinance. He also believes that while illegal immigrants are hard workers, Democrats are offering too much to them.
“We have no problem with immigration,” he said. “The problem is they open the floodgates.”
Down the street from the couple is a small mansion with a sign out front that reads, “I Vote for Felons,” as if anticipating detractors.
“I have a large Mexican family,” said a woman who answered the door and identified herself only as Almeta. “And they all voted for Trump.”
City Councilwoman Claudia Frometa said Downey voters are tired of “financially supporting people who are coming across the border during an illegal immigration invasion.”
Mr. Frometa, a Mexican immigrant, was the first California Republican to win the title of president of the national Congress. The Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials is a 50-year-old nonpartisan group founded by Edward R. Roybal, a pioneering East Side congressman who championed the underserved. She thinks liberals have gone too far.
She said that anti-crime policies “promoted by the left and the Los Angeles County district attorney,” the “invasion of illegal immigrants,” and inflation influenced the Downey vote.
“Hispanics are not a monolith, and contrary to what the left, along with the mainstream media, have continued to assert, Hispanics have an impact on their daily lives, their wallets, their families, and the safety and security of themselves and their small families. “We care about the issues that put us at risk’ businesses,” she said.
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