POLITICO Nightly: This pivotal county is still standing by Trump
By Charlie Mahtesian Presented by the Coalition to Empower Our Future A man wearing a MAGA hat waits to hear Donald Trump speak at the South Texas International airport on Nov. 19, 2023 in Edinburg, Texas. | Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images AS STARR COUNTY GOES — If you’re not yet familiar with Starr County, Texas — and we don’t expect you would be — remember the name. Since President Donald Trump’s November victory, it’s emerged as a key reference point in the debate over the future of the Democratic Party, a potent example of MAGA’s advance among Latino and working class voters. The historically blue border county flipped to Trump in 2024, but that description does a disservice to the stunning nature of what happened. Until last year, Starr County hadn’t voted for a Republican presidential nominee in over a century. As recently as 2016, Hillary Clinton destroyed Trump there, 79 percent to 19 percent. For comparative purposes, that’s roughly the same margin that Trump l...