Starr County and the new politics of Texas border communities
On Point | Podcast
WBUR
4.2 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 14 November 2024
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Starr County, Texas is 97% Latino. For more than 130 years the County voted for Democrats. Until last week.
In fact, Starr County has been swinging right for the past 8 years, with a 75-point shift to Republicans since 2016. What's motivating Latino voters in Starr County to back Republicans over Democrats?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Jorge Bazan is a general manager at the Union Water Supply Corporation in Rio Grande City, Texas. |
| 0:07.4 | It's a water and wastewater utility that services residents of Star County, a border county near the southernmost tip of Texas. |
| 0:16.0 | Jorge has lived in Star County all his life, all 56 years of it. |
| 0:20.6 | And? I'm a lifelong Democrats. I'll, in Star County all his life, all 56 years of it. And... |
| 0:21.4 | I'm a lifelong Democrats. |
| 0:24.3 | I want a change party. |
| 0:26.6 | In fact, Jorge comes from a long line of Democrats, which include his parents, grandparents, |
| 0:32.4 | and entire generations that have always voted blue. |
| 0:36.6 | This, in fact, makes him unremarkable in Star County. |
| 0:41.6 | The county is 97% Latino and has voted for Democrats in every single presidential election |
| 0:48.0 | since 1896, almost 130 years straight, beginning back in the days of William Jennings Bryan. |
| 0:57.0 | That is, until last week. |
| 1:03.0 | This is On Point. I'm Megna Chakrabardi, and today it's our latest collaboration with the award-winning non-profit newsroom ProPublica, |
| 1:10.7 | where we combine ProPublica's |
| 1:12.5 | investigative reporting with OnPoint's analysis to examine some of the most important issues |
| 1:17.0 | facing the country. |
| 1:18.9 | Well, last week, Donald Trump made history in Star County, Texas. |
| 1:23.5 | He won there, the first Republican to do so in that 130 years I mentioned before. |
| 1:30.3 | 58% of Star County voters cast their ballots for him. |
| 1:34.3 | That's a 39-point swing since 2016. |
| 1:38.3 | And Jorge Bazan is one of the voters who helped swing it. |
| 1:42.3 | The better choice was a Republican. |
... |
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