Democrats demand immigration reform after midterm sweep, but polls show economy drove voters

Democrats are pressing for immigration reform following their sweeping victories in the 2026 midterm elections, even as polling indicates economic concerns ranked far higher than immigration as a priority for both Democratic and Hispanic voters.

The push comes after Democratic gains across the country, including wins in Texas congressional districts that had been redrawn to favor Republicans, along with major upsets in the state's Senate and gubernatorial races. Some of the winners are framing the results as a mandate to challenge President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, and they are putting prospective 2028 Democratic presidential candidates on notice.

"Whoever wants to get our support in '28 has to prioritize immigration reform, period," Rep.-elect Bobby Pulido, D-Texas, said last Wednesday at a news conference alongside fellow Texas Democrats advocating for immigration reform. Pulido defeated Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in South Texas.

But Fox News Digital polling found that 27% of Republican voters ranked immigration as their top issue, compared with just 3% of Democrats. Pulido flipped a redrawn, Republican-leaning South Texas district, ousting De La Cruz, who had won re-election in 2024 by 14.2 points. He campaigned on affordability and tied Trump's worksite immigration enforcement raids to workforce shortages that he said hurt the economy.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, whose district includes the border town of Laredo, told Fox News Digital that voters who split their tickets between Trump and down-ballot Democrats in 2024 responded this year to both affordability pressures and the president's immigration crackdown. "He made a promise that he was going to bring prices down on day one. Liberation didn't happen, so people remembered that," Cuellar said. "Second thing is he said he was going to focus on criminals. He didn't stop there. He started going after construction workers."

The Democratic wins coincided with an estimated 14.5 million Latinos voting nationwide in the midterms, according to UnidosUS. Eric Holguín, the group's Texas state director, said Democratic support among Latino voters rivaled levels seen in 2008, when Barack Obama won the presidency. Still, he said cost of living was the top issue for Latino voters in Texas and across the country, citing UnidosUS polling.

Pre-election polling by the Fox News Voter Poll showed that for 45% of Hispanic voters surveyed, the economy was the most important issue facing the country, followed by the state of democracy at 26% and immigration at 15%. Among Hispanic voters in Texas, the pattern was similar: the economy led at 45%, democracy followed at 25% and immigration stood at 15%. Holguín said voters felt promises made by Trump in 2024 had not been delivered after nearly two years and argued conditions had worsened with the war in Iran.

Trump himself said the Iran war hurt Republicans in the midterms, as conflict in the Strait of Hormuz destabilized oil supply chains and sent gas prices soaring. Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, told Fox News Digital that voters were likely motivated more by a rejection of Trump than by enthusiasm for Democratic policies, pointing to higher inflation and expanded military involvement abroad. During a 60 Minutes interview, Trump said some of his deportation policies were "too tough" and that a deal with Democrats was "doable."

Miguel Valenzuela, a Texas business owner who joined American Families United for the Nov. 11 news conference, said he had spent years warning Republicans that their immigration approach risked alienating Hispanic voters who otherwise shared some of the party's values. "Hispanic values, family, faith, hardworking," Valenzuela, who does not identify as a Democrat, told Fox News Digital. "That sounds like a Republican, right?" He said children of immigrants have reached voting age and are making their frustrations known at the ballot box, adding, "this is exactly what I had been warning about for years."

Holguín cautioned Democrats that holding Latino support will depend on delivering results. "They're put on notice right now. Everyone's watching what they do," he said, adding that voters are looking for major change in how the government is run and how it delivers for the people. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.