Ideological Sorting Helps Explain the Galvanization of Latino Republicans in Contemporary U.S. Politics: Qualitative Evidence From In-Depth Interviews

Abstract

Latino Republicans have long comprised about one-third of the Latino electorate, yet their support for the GOP has intensified at a time when it is publicly championing policies and candidates that are perceived as hostile to Latinos and other people of color. Available research traces Latinos’ resurgent Republican partisanship to weakened pan-ethnic identity or diminished ties to immigrants. We consider another plausible but ignored possibility: ideological sorting in a polarizing political system. We accomplish this by drawing on 85 in-depth interviews with Latino Republicans from five Latino-majority counties in south Texas, which shifted dramatically toward the GOP after 2016. Our analyses reveal that participants (re-)interpret their longstanding commitments—rooted in family histories, religious beliefs, and orientations toward social order—through salient culture war issues (e.g., immigration, abortion, and LGBTQ rights), which increasingly differentiate Republicans from Democrats. Thus, participants interpret their Republican partisanship as the product of recognizing which party is a better steward of their personal commitments. Crucially, participants articulate this reasoning while also expressing meaningful and positive attachments to their Latino identity and immigrant heritage, thus complicating theories that attribute Latinos’ Republican partisanship to dis-identification with their pan-ethnic group or immigrant peers.