In Allentown, Pennsylvania, the two major political parties are doing something rare: they are competing openly for the same group of voters. The city’s Latino population has grown so large that both Democrats and Republicans now pitch their policies directly to Hispanic residents, hoping to win their support in November.
The race is close. Ryan Mackenzie, the current Republican representative, won his seat by a narrow margin of one point percentage. His challenger, Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter and union leader, is running on a platform that includes immigration concerns. The stakes are high, because Latino voters could decide which party controls the House of Representatives.
A Family Business Built on Scratch Cooking
Beti Rosales runs La Placita, a deli and restaurant that has served authentic Mexican food for 29 years. The menu includes chorizo and rice with beans, and homemade tamales. Everything is made from scratch, which Rosales believes is why customers keep coming back.
Rosales, 47, runs the restaurant with her parents Jorge and Ana, who emigrated from Puebla, Mexico. The family has had to raise prices because ingredient costs keep rising. Lemons, avocados, milk, and meat all increased in price, forcing the family to pass the costs on to customers.
Rosales notes that economic pressure on customers means they cut dining out. That hurts the business and creates a ripple effect through the local economy. She sees the strain firsthand.
The Numbers Behind Allentown’s Demographic Shift
Allentown’s demographic changed significantly since the 1970 census. At that time, the city had 109,000 people and 98.2% were white. Now Allentown is a majority-Latino city, primarily Puerto Rican and Dominican.
Stephanie Valencia, cofounder of Equis Research, a polling firm focused on Latino public opinion, says Latino voters hold decisive power in Washington and cannot be underestimated. She notes how the House of Representatives’ composition depends on Latino turnout and for whom they vote.
Valencia says Democrats lost ground with Latinos in recent election cycles due to President Trump’s gains. According to Equis polls, Latinos felt Democrats were focused on the wrong things, like foreign interventions and social issues, rather than their economic anxieties and immigration concerns.
Mayor Matt Tuerk, the first Spanish-speaking mayor, observed that precincts that voted Democratic shifted Republican after the 2020 elections. Tuerk attributed the shift to a discordant message from the Biden administration. He said people told him they were suffering economically but the administration’s message was one of massive economic success. People felt misled by the message, according to Tuerk’s account.
Independents Hold the Balance
Valencia noted that a third of Latinos do not identify with any party. They vote based on their personal economic anxieties in each election period. Both parties must compete for those votes, she said.
The independent Hispanic bloc is a swing group in this contest. Their decisions could tip the balance in key districts.
| Group | Share of Latino voters | Voting behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Independent Hispanics | Third of all Latinos | Vote on personal economic anxieties |
| Republican Hispanics | Not specified | Some say Trump’s immigration actions have gone too far |
| Democratic Hispanics | Not specified | Feel Democrats ignored their economic anxieties |
The ICE Issue That Could Motivate Voters
Rosales suspects immigration will motivate the electorate. Her own family feels the tension. Her sister keeps her passport with her in Connecticut for fear of being detained, something Rosales finds strange given they were born here.
Rosales is not against removing criminal illegal immigrants but wants a better system to avoid taking real workers who commit no crime. She wants a fairer process.
Republicans Promise to Fix ICE
Ryan Mackenzie, the current Republican representative, disputes the Democratic argument about Trump’s immigration policy hurting GOP Latino support. He called it a level of “misinformation.”
He said he works directly with police to pursue criminals within the community. On ICE reform, he said there is no doubt they want to fix it properly when national-level things go wrong, but his local experience has been fortunate.
His Democratic opponent, Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter and union leader, said fear of ICE is something he hears often during his campaign. Brooks recounted knocking on doors when a small woman came out crying, afraid to go to the market or visit her dead husband’s grave for fear an masked man would take her away.
An Equis poll found 66% of independent Hispanics and 26% of Republican Hispanics say Trump’s immigration actions have gone too far. That split suggests the issue cuts across party lines.
The Parties’ Different Messages
Democrats are focusing on economic anxiety. Republicans are focusing on immigration. Both messages are aimed at the same voters.
The question is which message sticks. Economic concerns are prevalent among Latino voters this election cycle, according to Valencia. But the poll numbers suggest a significant share of Republicans and independents believe Trump’s immigration actions have gone too far.
George Rivera, president of the Lehigh County Republican Committee, argues the Democratic message is fear-mongering. He said Hispanic culture is being misled into thinking anyone dark-skinned or bilingual could be taken simply for not speaking English.
The debate over immigration is playing out in a city that has changed dramatically. Allentown’s Latino population grew from a predominantly white population in 1970 to a majority-Latino city today. That shift is reshaping politics.
What the Race May Look Like
The competition for Latino votes in Allentown is a microcosm of a national trend. The parties are courting a group that can determine who controls the House of Representatives. Mackenzie won by a point percentage, a narrow margin.
Rosales’s restaurant is a small part of that story. But her family’s experience — raising prices, watching customers cut dining out, worrying about immigration — reflects the broader pressures facing Latino voters.
The election will test whether economic anxiety or immigration concerns carry more weight. The results in Allentown could signal what happens across the country.
The paper’s view is that immigration enforcement should be targeted, not sweeping. Workers who commit no crime should not be caught up in the system. The government should pursue criminals within the community, as Mackenzie says he does.
Economic anxiety deserves attention too. But fear-mongering about immigration is not a path to victory. The paper backs a fairer immigration system, not blanket enforcement.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs neither party’s pitch to Latino voters and instead backs candidates who actually champion individual freedom, small business, and a reduction in government control over daily life, rather than those simply seeking to organize a new voting bloc for their own gain.
Both parties are competing for a group of voters who have grown so large they can decide who controls the House of Representatives. The paper wants candidates who support small business, who lower the cost of living, and who push back against agencies that gather power over people’s lives. It is against campaigns built around fear of immigration and against offices that treat Latino voters as a machine to be organized rather than citizens to be served.
The independent Hispanic bloc is the swing group in this contest. They vote on their personal economic anxieties, not party loyalty. The paper supports candidates who address those anxieties honestly, rather than politicians who promise to fix a broken system without ever naming what is broken.
Source material: “En esta ciudad de Pensilvania, los dos partidos políticos buscan el voto latino,” NPR.
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