A Spanish-language radio show overflows with voters' frustration in Pennsylvania battleground

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Una sola cosa. Just one thing. That's all Victor Martinez wanted from listeners of his Spanish-language radio station — tell him one positive thing about President Donald Trump.

The calls started rolling in. Someone mentioned the $5,000 payout that Trump promised if Republicans keep control of Congress, which Martinez thought was so hilarious that he played a laugh track.

Then a trucker shared a silver lining from high diesel prices — he was expecting to take an unplanned vacation because he could no longer afford to fill up his rig.

Martinez has been hosting his show for nearly a decade in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, where Latinos have gone from a fifth to nearly a quarter of the population over the same time period. He added an hour of politics to his morning talk show at the end of Trump's first term, and listeners flooded his phone with their worries about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, their unhappiness with inflation and their concern over Joe Biden's age.

Now, at the halfway mark of Trump's second term, Martinez said people are just as frustrated as they were then. They're angry about higher prices for fuel and groceries, and Republicans could face the consequences in the midterm elections.

“It’s the economy, stupid. That’s what it is. I mean, things have gotten so bad,” Martinez said. “People didn’t think Biden did a good job. Everything was expensive and now it’s worse.”

Martinez broadcasts from a fourth floor studio with hardwood floors and a view of an old church in downtown Allentown. He operates the show's control board like an orchestra conductor and sits in front of a poster with campaign signs for Democrats and Republicans.

The studio is located in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, where freshman incumbent Ryan Mackenzie faces Democratic challenger Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter and union official, in one of the most closely watched races in the country.

Latinos are about a quarter of the district's population, and they were a key part of Trump's winning coalition two years ago.

Both candidates have organized Latino outreach efforts.

Brooks calls his “Bombero Bob” — Spanish for firefighter — and recently stopped by a Mexican restaurant and a barber shop with a Dominican flag hanging inside. Mackenzie's campaign has promoted support from Latino voters and officials, and the congressman opened a district office in downtown Allentown with Spanish-speaking staff.

Martinez is a longtime critic of the president, and this year is backing Brooks. But he said his political roots are in the Republican Party. He supported candidates like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, and he opposed Biden's decision to seek reelection because he was too old.

Martinez said he uses his show to keep people engaged with politics when some have despaired about the prospect of things getting better .

“I got a call yesterday from a guy that said that he was just not going to vote,” Martinez said. “I understand that feeling of frustration, but not doing nothing is not the answer.”

Republicans know Martinez's show is an avenue to reach voters, and they're buying advertising time on it.

Jackie Rivera, vice chair of Lehigh County Republicans, said the party wants to hold on to the support from Latino voters that Trump won over two years ago, and that means connecting with them on issues like “faith and family.”

Although Trump often brags about the economy under his leadership, she said her party wasn't making the same mistake as Democrats did before.

“We’re not pretending everything is great right now,” she said. “You have to be honest with them so that they can believe in you and actually trust in what you’re stating to them.”

Matt Tuerk, Allentown’s Democratic mayor, said this year’s election has the “same vibes” as two years ago, when Biden was trying to convince people that the economy was strong.

“People on the street were like, ‘Yeah, but my monthly childcare bill is higher and then my monthly mortgage, the price of groceries is ridiculously high,’” he said. “That’s the same story that you hear right now. There’s been no improvement.”

Claudia Parrales-DeLeon, a Democratic listener from Allentown, said Martinez’s show helps people feel connected as they pay more for gas and groceries and face Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“I don’t know if it makes people less afraid, as much as it makes people more informed,” she said.

She recalled listening one day when a particular caller's story brought tears to her eyes.

“This one gentleman who shared how he just lost his job, he can’t find work, doesn’t even know where he’s going to get his next meal for him and his children," she said.

Alberto Pena isn’t a regular listener to Martinez, but his concerns are similar. For nearly two decades, Pena and his wife have run a Dominican restaurant in Allentown, where the aroma of crispy pastelillos and savory rice fill the dining room.

He voted for Trump hoping he’d turn things around after high inflation under Biden. But they're still “living day by day,” and he's leaning toward Brooks this year.

“This is not what we expected,” he said. “The economy is completely on the ground."

Alberto Pena who operates Las Palmas Restaurant that serves Dominican food, speaks as his son Miguel, looks on in Allentown, Pa., on Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Alberto Pena who operates Las Palmas Restaurant that serves Dominican food, puts on his apron at the business he operates in Allentown, Pa., on Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Alberto Pena who operates Las Palmas Restaurant that serves Dominican food, speaks during an interview in Allentown, Pa., on Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Victor Martinez, who runs La Mega 101.7, a Spanish-language radio station in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, hosts a politics talk show from his studio in Allentown, Pa., on Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Shiyazh Pete’s time with the Dallas Cowboys was brief, but his NFL debut gave fellow Navajo citizens a moment to remember. When the rookie offensive lineman took the field for a preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals in August, thousands of fans who had traveled from across the Navajo Nation erupted in cheers, waving tribal flags and exclaiming “yéego,” an affirmation that translates roughly to “with great effort, do it.”

Pete played just six snaps, but returned to the sideline to a standing ovation — a powerful show of support for the first member of the Navajo Nation to sign with an NFL team.

Now a free agent after being waived by the Cowboys, Pete has returned home to the Navajo Nation, where he has been thanking fans for their support as he looks for his next NFL opportunity. He surprised students at his alma mater, Shiprock High School, with an appearance at their homecoming pep rally and served as grand marshal of the Northern Navajo Nation Fair Parade.

On Monday, Pete will meet and greet fans at an Indigenous Peoples Day event in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Pete joins a long list of Native athletes who have broken barriers in sports, inspired pride in their communities and become role models for Native children. From Olympic champions to professional basketball players, these athletes have helped shape sports history while opening doors for those who follow.

Still widely considered the greatest athlete of all time, Jim Thorpe, of the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma, won the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 Olympics. He also played six seasons in Major League Baseball and 12 in professional football, including in the American Professional Football Association, the precursor to the National Football League.

A track and field teammate of Thorpe’s at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, Louis Tewanima carried on the Hopi spiritual practice of running to gain recognition at the repressive institution. He finished ninth in the marathon at the 1908 Olympics in London and second in the 10,000 meters at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, setting an American record in the event.

Modern surfing traces its history to Native Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku. His international demonstrations between winning gold and silver swimming medals at the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Olympics made surfing widely known. Kahanamoku helped establish surfboards as standard ocean lifeguarding equipment. He acted in movies and served from 1935 to 1961 as sheriff of Honolulu.

Marathoner Ellison Myers “Tarzan” Brown, of the Narragansett Tribe in Rhode Island, won the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939 and competed for the U.S. in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Brown was to run the marathon in the 1940 Olympics, but the games were canceled due to World War II.

Oglala Lakota runner Billy Mills was the first non-European to win Olympic gold in the 10-kilometer run with his upset, Olympic-record race at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. The run was the best U.S. medal finish in that Olympic event since Tewanima's silver more than half a century earlier — and Mills' 10K gold has yet to be equaled by a U.S. Olympian.

The first American woman to finish a marathon under 2 hours, 30 minutes, Patti Catalano Dillon, is of Mi’kmaw descent and grew up in Massachusetts. Dillon was runner-up in the 1980 New York Marathon and in the 1979, 1980 and 1981 Boston marathons. Dillon held world records in the half marathon and 30-kilometer and 20-kilometer runs.

Ryneldi Becenti was the first Native American WNBA athlete, playing for the Phoenix Mercury in the 1997 season. Becenti grew up playing fast-paced “rez ball” on the Navajo Nation and was a top player for Scottsdale Community College and Arizona State University before going pro as a player in Europe.

Los Angeles Sparks player Aaliyah Nye is a citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi in Michigan. A top scorer in high school, then for Alabama, Nye joined the WNBA in 2025 as a Las Vegas Aces draft pick. In 2026, she was drafted and waived by the Toronto Tempo and Atlanta Dream before being claimed by the Sparks.

This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

FILE - Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Shiyazh Pete waves to fans after an NFL football practice on Aug. 26, 2026, in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

FILE - U.S. Marine Lt. Billy Mills breaks the tape to win the 10,000-meter race, setting an Olympic record, on Oct. 14, 1964, in Tokyo. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Alabama guard Aaliyah Nye brings the ball up court during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Green Bay in College Park, Md., March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams, File)

FILE - Notah Begay III hits off the third tee during the final round of the Champions Tour Principal Charity Classic golf tournament, June 2, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

FILE - Jim Thorpe, famous all-around athlete, is shown giving a drop-kicking exhibition at New York's polo grounds on Sept. 26, 1948, between halves of the Israel-U.S. international soccer match. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Ellison M. Brown, winner of the Boston Marathon, is shown in an exhausted state after the race, April 19, 1939. (AP Photo/Abe Fox, File)