Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Somos Votantes and Somos PAC, which ran the largest independent Latino voter engagement programs in the country this cycle, put Latino voters at the center of Senate wins in Texas (James Talarico), Michigan (Abdul El-Sayed) and Kansas (Adam Hamilton), Governor’s wins in Texas (Gina Hinojosa), Nevada (Aaron Ford), Michigan (Jocelyn Benson) and Wisconsin (David Crowley), and House wins in TX-15 (Bobby Pulido), TX-23 (Katy Padilla Stout), TX-35 (Johnny Garcia), MI-04 (Sean McCann), NV-03 (Susie Lee), WI-01 (Mitchell Berman), CO-08 (Manny Rutinel) and CA-22 (Randy Villegas).

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As a result, Somos Votantes and Somos PAC founder and president Melissa Morales released the following statement on the 2026 midterm results:

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“This was not a homecoming for Latinos; it was a reckoning for their elected leaders. The shifts we saw among Latino voters were never a permanent realignment, and they were never, and will never be, a blank check for any party in power. Those shifts were a demand for real results. From Texas to Michigan to Nevada to Wisconsin, Latino voters showed up in force and delivered a verdict on the cost of living: gas, groceries, and health care prices driven up by Trump’s tariffs, a reckless war with Iran, and immigration operations that terrorize our families.

Latino voters rewarded the candidates who showed up, listened, and were clear about who is driving up costs: billionaires and corrupt politicians rigging the system. But economic frustration alone did not bring Latino voters to the polls. Early and sustained engagement did. Our canvassers, our organizers, and our community partners put in the work.

Latino voters showed up for Democrats, now it’s time for Democrats to show up for them by delivering real results. The clock is ticking, it’s time to show working families that our government can actually make their lives easier."

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Somos’ combined nearly $20 million investment in a surround-sound approach paired door-to-door canvassing with paid media (digital, radio and mail) in the states and districts that mattered most. Across Somos PAC’s program and Somos Votantes’ separate, nonpartisan program, Somos knocked more than 700,000 doors and held nearly 100,000 conversations with Latino voters. Canvassers from Texas to Michigan heard the same thing at the door: gas, food, and health care prices are crushing families. The program began with Somos PAC’s first-ever congressional primary investment, $1.5 million in CO-08 for Manny Rutinel, and grew into a national operation.

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The shift was historic. According to the AP, in Texas, roughly seven in 10 Hispanic voters backed James Talarico, a group that was split in the 2024 presidential race. In majority-Hispanic counties, Democratic Senate candidates ran more than 15-points ahead of their party’s 2024 results and Democrats won every House district touching the US-Mexico border for the first time since 2008. In TX-15, Bobby Pulido’s win marked a 42-point swing towards Democrats compared with 2024. And in Southwest Kansas, where Somos PAC canvassed in Liberal and Dodge City, three Hispanic-majority counties that voted overwhelmingly for Trump, flipped to Adam Hamilton, with turnout up 27% over 2022. 

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Where Somos invested:

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• Texas ($6 million, Somos’ largest investment of the cycle): Over 300,000 doors knocked and more than 37,000 one-to-one conversations with voters, with Somos field offices in Beeville and Hidalgo County, and investments in the U.S. Senate and governor races as well as the TX-15, TX-23 and TX-35 House races.
  
  • Direct voter contact layered with over 200,000 pieces of mail, series of paid digital ads generating over 6 million impressions on Meta, YouTube and streaming TV, and investments on Spanish-language radio.
• Nevada ($3.6 million): Over 216,000 doors knocked and more than 24,000 conversations, with investments in the governor race and the NV-03 House race.
  
  • Direct voter contact layered with over 200,000 pieces of mail and on the ground early voting activations
• Michigan (over $3 million): Over 37,000 doors knocked and over 4,000 conversations, with investments in the U.S. Senate and governor races and the MI-04 House race, including a joint ad investment with LCV Victory Fund.
  
  • Direct voter contact layered with a series of early paid digital ads generating over 3 million impressions on Meta, YouTube and streaming TV, robust investments on Spanish-language radio and on the ground early voting activations. 
• Wisconsin ($1 million): Over 80,000 doors knocked and more than 20,000 conversations in the race for governor and House race in WI-01.
  
  • Direct voter contact layered with over 62,000 pieces of mail
• Kansas: A six-figure Somos PAC program of door-to-door canvassing, radio and mail in Southwest Kansas, including Liberal and Dodge City, in the U.S. Senate race.
  
  • Direct voter contact layered with over 160,000 pieces of mail and robust investments on Spanish-language radio.
• Arizona: (over $4 million): Over 55,000 doors knocked and more than 5,000 conversations, plus a joint ad investment with LCV Victory Fund in AZ-02.
  
  • Direct voter contact layered with over 63,000 pieces of mail and a series of early paid digital ads generating nearly 6 million impressions on Meta, YouTube and streaming TV. 
• CA-22: ($500,000): A Somos PAC door-to-door canvass program supporting Randy Villegas, with over 36,000 doors knocked and more than 6,000 conversations.
• CO-8: ($1.5 million): Somos PAC’s first-ever congressional primary investment in Manny Rutinel set up a November contest he won handedly. 
  
  • Over 402,000 pieces of mail, a series of paid digital ads generating over 1 million impressions on Meta, YouTube and streaming TV, investments on broadcast TV and on Spanish-language radio.

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Somos PAC’s polling and paid media worked as one strategy. Tracking of Latino voters in key states and districts consistently showed that rising costs, and the role of Trump’s tariffs and war with Iran in driving them, were the Republican Party’s biggest vulnerability. Somos PAC’s digital, radio, and mail programs put that message in front of voters where they are, while canvassers heard the same frustrations at the door. Somos PAC also took get-out-the-vote efforts directly to voters, including events in Nevada, Michigan, and Arizona during early voting.

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About Somos Votantes and Somos PAC

Somos Votantes, and its sister organization, Somos PAC, are Latino-founded organizations that run some of the largest independent Latino civic and voter engagement programs in the country. We envision a nation where hardworking Latinos have the opportunities and tools to fully participate in our democracy. Somos Votantes seeks to empower hardworking Latinos in shaping the future of our democracy, primarily through non-partisan civic engagement programs, by increasing our participation in elections and advocating for progressive policies. Somos PAC focuses on electing progressive candidates.

Visit https://www.somosvotantes.org/ and https://www.somospac.org for more information on this program and other projects.