Latino electorate holds the key in redistricting duel

Latinos unleashed a political earthquake after voting for Donald Trump, who has long painted the country's largest minority as an existential threat, in unexpectedly large numbers in the fall.

- Voices GUSTAVO ARELLANO COLUMNIST

KENT NISHIMURA Los Angeles Times REP. Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, is in a safe seat in Texas' redrawn districts, Gustavo Arellano writes.

This swing to MAGA helped Trump win, kicked Democrats into the political wilderness, launched a thousand thought pieces and showed politicians that they ignore Latinos at their own risk.

Now, Latinos once again hold the power to make or break American politics, thanks to redistricting fights shaping up in Texas and California. And once again, both Democratic and Republican leaders think they know what Latinos want.

In the Lone Star State, the GOP-dominated Legislature last week approved the redrawing of congressional districts at the behest of Trump, upending the traditional process, to help Republicans gain up to five seats in the 2026 midterms. Their California counterparts landed on the opposite side of the gerrymandering coin— their maps, which will go before voters in November, target Republican congressional members.

Texas Republicans and California Democrats are both banking on Latinos to be the swing votes that make their gambits successful. That's understandable but dangerous. If ever a voting bloc fulfills the cliche that to assume something makes an ass out of you and me, it’s Latinos.

ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times SEN. Alex Padilla announces an effort to redraw California congressional maps.