BOLD PAC recruits Latino influencers as Democrats court Hispanic voters

Strategist warns frayed Latino trust won’t be repaired in one cycle

Democrats lost ground with Latino voters in 2024 and are now turning to social media influencers to help reverse that shift, with the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus placing a new emphasis on trusted online voices in competitive House districts.

Kamala Harris won the Latino vote by 3 points in 2024, according to the Pew Research Center, a sharp decline from the 25-point margin Joe Biden carried in 2020. President Donald Trump grew his party’s share of the Latino vote by double digits to 48% that year, according to Pew, leaving Democrats with what the report described as a slim majority. The shift, which Pew attributes to what Latinos saw as liberal immigration policies and a focus on foreign intervention over domestic policy under former President Biden, is now shaping Democratic strategy ahead of the November midterms.

The new effort comes from BOLD PAC, the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. In February, the group launched a program to connect content creators with voters, an attempt to reach Hispanic voters through the platforms they already use. “We’re turning to trusted voices in local communities that have followings giving them information and then allowing them to create content in a way that is organic and authentic,” said Rep. Linda Sánchez, a California Democrat who chairs BOLD PAC.

Pew Research Center has found that 30% of Latinos regularly get their news from influencers on social media, more than any other demographic. “So whether that’s … Instagram or YouTube or TikTok, that’s how they’re getting their information,” Sánchez said. “So we need to be in those spaces.”

The strategy targets swing districts where Hispanic populations are large enough to tip the balance. BOLD PAC’s program includes appearances at get-out-the-vote events around the country. One participant is Alexa Flores, an Arizona content creator with nearly 500,000 followers across her platforms, who previously focused on beauty tips and fashion before shifting to politics in response to the Trump administration’s immigration policies. She is scheduled to appear at a wine tasting event in Las Cruces, N.M., where Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez is locked in a close race against Republican Greg Cunningham, and at a Día de los Muertos event with lowriders and voters in Tucson, Ariz., where Marine veteran JoAnna Mendoza is trying to unseat GOP incumbent Juan Ciscomani.

BOLD PAC says it is not paying content creators for posts. Instead, the group is providing stipends of $1,500 per event to cover flights, hotels and other travel costs.

The program faces a steep challenge. Democratic strategist Stephanie Valencia, co-founder of Equis Research, which studies Latino voters, said Democratic efforts to rebuild long-term support among Hispanic voters will be an uphill fight. Roughly a third of Latinos are considered independent voters, according to Equis’s estimates. Of those, more than 40% think neither party cares about people like them. “One election cycle is not going to solve the problem that Democrats have had and a frayed trust with Latino voters that has developed over the last several election cycles,” Valencia said.

In 2024, Latinos shifted right in response to what they saw as liberal immigration policies and a focus on foreign intervention over domestic policy under former President Biden, Pew found. BOLD PAC leaders say they now see an opening: a growing number of Latinos say they feel betrayed by President Trump’s immigration and economic policies. Still, Valencia warned that some Democratic campaigns continue to underestimate how “swingy” a good portion of the Latino electorate is. “Latinos are just a more persuadable universe and can’t just be treated as a base turnout universe for Democrats,” she said.

The creators working with BOLD PAC say their content is shaped more by issues than by partisan appeals. Solangie Hernandez Hollowell, a Texas influencer, said her posts often do not even mention specific candidates, focusing instead on issues like taxes and immigration that Democrats are campaigning on this cycle. “Latinos feel like politicians show up just right before the election. I don’t feel like we feel very heard,” she said.

Hollowell said her goal is to translate the political moment for her community. “My main goal right now is making sure that everything that’s happening around the world reaches my family and my community in a way that they can understand it,” she said.

Flores, the Arizona influencer, said she wants Latino voters to understand their potential influence if they show up at the polls. “My job is to get people to understand that so that they can go and move that needle,” she said. She added that she hopes for more awareness that Latinos are having a growing impact on major pieces of American life. “The wave of Latinos growing in this country is becoming a bigger voice for a lot of things,” she said.