Latino voters swing left in midterm elections, lifting Democrats to big wins in Texas and nationwide

SAN JUAN, Texas (AP) — Latino voters moved sharply to the left in the midterm elections, propelling Democrats to an improbable electoral sweep in Texas and in battleground House races from coast to coast.

It's a remarkable pivot for a demographic that had shifted toward President Donald Trump just two years ago.

“We showed our power and flexed our muscle during this election,” said Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez, who won his battleground district in New Mexico by around 17 percentage points after winning by less than 1 percentage point in 2022.

Democrats capitalized on voters' angst over rising prices and government corruption, riding a wave of frustration to retake control of the House and the Senate.

Hispanics joined in that decisive repudiation of Trump and his Republican Party. In Texas, every county voted more Democratic than it did two years ago, when Trump beat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race. But the more heavily Hispanic the county, generally the heavier the shift.

“This is our lightning-in-the-bottle moment, that we were able to make such historic gains that we probably never conjured, especially here in Texas,” said Johnny Garcia, a sheriff's deputy who won a newly created House district in the San Antonio area where Trump won by 10 percentage points in 2024. “The only way we did that is by going after the issues that were meaning the most to people.”

About one-third of Hispanic voters said they backed the Republican in their local U.S. House race, while roughly 4 in 10 voted for Trump two years ago.

The shift was especially pronounced in Texas, where voters flipped a Senate seat and the governor's office to Democrats along with every statewide office on the ballot.

Roughly 7 in 10 Hispanic voters supported Democrat James Talarico in the U.S. Senate contest, while only about 3 in 10 voted for Republican Ken Paxton. The group was essentially split in the 2024 presidential election, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of voters and nonvoters that aims to tell the story behind election results.

Younger Hispanics’ shift was even more pronounced, with swings of around 20 percentage points toward Talarico among Hispanic voters in Texas under 65 years old.

Cindy Candia, a 56-year-old lifelong Democrat, was thrilled to see her party find success for the first time in her 20 years living in Texas. She was especially excited about the incoming governor, Gina Hinojosa, who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, where Candia lives now.

“She’s a woman, she’s Hispanic, she is from Brownsville, and I don’t think anybody thought that Texas would vote for that, for that type of person,” Candia said.

Democrats won every House district that touches the U.S.-Mexico border — which includes seats in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California — for the first time since 2008.

Even in the Senate race in Florida, where Republican Sen. Ashley Moody managed to narrowly win reelection, less than half of Hispanic voters supported Moody, while Trump definitively won this group two years earlier with 55% of Hispanics’ support.

In southwestern Kansas, three Hispanic-majority counties that voted overwhelmingly for Trump flipped to backing Adam Hamilton, who became the first Democrat in nearly a century to win a U.S. Senate contest in the state. Turnout also surged 27% over 2022 in the three counties, Finney, Ford and Seward.

Fourteen Hispanic Democrats were newly elected on Tuesday, 10 of them in districts that are currently represented by Republicans or were redrawn to favor the GOP. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus will have more members than ever before, said Rep. Linda Sanchez of California, chair of the caucus' campaign arm, CHC BOLD PAC.

Latino voters want someone who is “understanding of their issues” to represent them on Capitol Hill, said Leticia Gutierrez, a Democrat who won a Houston-area House district that Texas Republicans redrew in a failed attempt to pick up five more seats in the state.

“I’m gonna carry all of those things with me to Washington to be able to have that lens,” Gutierrez said.

Manny Rutinel, a Democrat who defeated Republican Rep. Gabe Evans in Colorado, said voters responded to his life story, trusting that he understands their economic concerns after growing up in a family that sometimes struggled to make ends meet.

“I think that they elected me because they know that for me it’s deeply personal,” Rutinel said.

In House districts where at least a quarter of the citizen voting-age population is Hispanic, the Democratic share in Tuesday’s midterms averaged about 11 percentage points higher than Harris' 2024 performance. By contrast, other House districts saw a 7-percentage-point gain on average.

In majority-Hispanic counties, Democratic Senate candidates exceeded their party's 2024 results by more than 15 percentage points.

Latinos have been especially affected by Trump's immigration crackdown, which was a prominent issue alongside economic concerns in some of the most heavily Latino districts.

Though Trump's promise to arrest and deport immigrants living in the country illegally was popular during his campaign, Americans now disapprove of his approach to immigration enforcement.

“Everybody voted for him, but the people that voted for him, he’s locking them up," said Elton Reid, a 44-year-old Latino voter and full-time caregiver for his father in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “Like he promised them the world, and he didn’t come through with it, and now he’s locking them up.”

Reid voted for Democrats in his battleground district, where Democrat Bob Brooks defeated Republican Rep. Ryan McKenzie.

Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, a Latino Democrat, warned that the shift toward Democrats hinges on the party keeping campaign pledges.

“They saw betrayal from Trump after they gave him a chance in 2024,” Tuerk said. “And they went with the Democrats, and they’re giving them a chance now.”

“But," he added, "they’re on probation.”

Catalini and Cooper reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Linley Sanders, Aaron Kessler and Humeri Lodhi in Washington; John Hanna in Topeka, Kan.; Erik Verduzco in York, S.C.; Fabianna Rincon in New York; and Tassanee Vejpongsa in Allentown, Pa., contributed.

Follow the AP's coverage of the 2026 elections at https://apnews.com/hub/elections.

Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa arrives for a news conference in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Volunteers hold campaign signs for Texas' 34th congressional district candidate Vicente Gonzalez outside Burns Elementary School on Election Day in Brownsville, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)

Attendees listen to speakers at the Voto Latino "Ready, Go, Vote," rally for Democratic candidates Gina Hinojosa for Texas governor, James Talarico for the U.S. Senate, and Bobby Pulido for the U.S. House, in Weslaco, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, ahead of the midterm elections. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)

Attendees listen to speakers at the Voto Latino "Ready, Go, Vote" rally for Democratic candidates Gina Hinojosa for Texas governor, James Talarico for the U.S. Senate, and Bobby Pulido for the U.S. House, in Weslaco, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, ahead of the midterm elections. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)

BERLIN (AP) — Officials across Europe reported more bomb threats against multiple flights on Friday, following a string of hoaxes that have caused flight diversions this week.

No suspicious items were found and no one was injured, but the threats have raised concern because they came as Europe digests a slew of other recent disruptions — including attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems and drone incursions.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office said Friday that “four new bomb threats were made today against aircraft flying over French territory.” The planes landed safely and bomb disposal experts were conducting inspections. The statement didn’t give further details on the flights affected.

A flight from Prague to Bucharest operated by Romanian carrier Tarom received a bomb threat, but it landed at its intended destination. Airport administration officials said the threat proved to be false.

Portuguese police said they were informed of a bomb threat targeting a Ryanair flight traveling from Lisbon to Rome, and carried out a security inspection once the aircraft landed in Lisbon. Passengers and luggage scheduled to travel to Rome underwent additional security screening before boarding.

Police in Venice said a WizzAir flight from Prague to Rome was diverted to the Italian city after a bomb alert. Passengers were evacuated after the aircraft landed, and authorities were carrying out security checks. The inspections had so far produced negative results, according to police. Air traffic at the airport was temporarily suspended but resumed.

Meanwhile, police in Denmark and the Czech Republic both said they investigated threats to air traffic.

In the Danish capital, Copenhagen, police said Friday they went to the airport for a second consecutive day “in connection with threats directed at air traffic" as a precautionary measure. They said they assessed that there had been no danger to passengers or to others at the airport, and that air traffic was proceeding safely and without disruption.

Czech police also said they were again dealing with threats against planes on Friday. They said necessary security measures were taken in cooperation with Prague’s Vaclav Havel Airport that had “a minimal impact on the normal operations at the airport.”

Airport spokesperson Denisa Hejtmánková said a total of nine flights were threatened — arriving flights from Denmark, Spain and Britain, and departing flights to the Netherlands, Cyprus, Romania, Italy and Britain.

More than two dozen flights were affected by threats earlier in the week, with some diverted as authorities scrambled to rule out any danger.

Fake bomb threats are relatively common but it is unusual to see so many in such a short period.

It remains unclear who is behind the wave of airline hoaxes, which come at a time of increased geopolitical tensions and warnings from authorities that Russia may be ramping up so-called hybrid threats in Europe.

Authorities have not attributed the threats to any group or state actor, and no evidence has emerged linking the hoaxes to a government. An email containing the threat sent Thursday to airport authorities in Rome and reviewed by The Associated Press purported to come from a group describing itself as anti-feminist and claiming it was targeting a “feminist regime.” Another European airport received a threat with similar wording, but it was unclear if it came from the same sender.

Bomb threats are on pilots’ minds and create unnecessary tension, but crews are prepared to respond professionally, said Paul Reuter, vice president of the European Cockpit Association. Pilots review procedures with cabin crews, identify airports where they could divert and may carry extra fuel, he said.

Reuter called the use of civil aviation for geopolitical disruption or hoaxes “totally unacceptable.”

In Ireland, the Dublin headquarters of national broadcaster RTE was evacuated Friday after a bomb threat, and live broadcasts were replaced with pre-recorded programs.

Ireland’s police force, An Garda Síochána, said it was ”aware of a threat made against media organisations here and in Europe.” It said that it has been liaising with Irish media organizations and the threat will be investigated.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said the threats to RTE and others “just illustrates how relatively simple it can be to cause disruption and to undermine the normal operation of society through unconventional activities of this kind, which are designed to cause fear and anxiety.”

He said there would be a “very significant security operation” in place next week when Dublin hosts meetings of the European Political Community and European Union leaders.

Jill Lawless in London, Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, Giada Zampano in Rome, Karel Janicek in Prague, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Mark Carlson in Brussels contributed to this report.

A police car is seen in front of Vasil Levski Sofia Airport after three Ryanair flights bound for Sofia, Bulgaria, made emergency landings following bomb threats on board, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Police patrol the Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Passengers arriving at the Henri Coanda International Airport pass under a Schengen Information sign, in Otopeni, near Bucharest, Romania, on March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru, File)

Police patrol the Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)