Across all four counties that make up the Rio Grande Valley, Donald Trump received the majority of the votes.

Unofficial election results show Trump picked up 51% of the votes in Hidalgo and Willacy counties, and 52% of the vote in Cameron County. 

In Starr County, Trump picked up 58% of the vote. 

Jon Taylor, a UTSA political science professor, called the results a “stunning turnaround.”

“It begs the question - what the heck happened in Texas," Taylor said.

Ross Barrera was at a watch party in Rio Grande City, and said he was hoping for a win for Trump.

“The Democrat stronghold cannot take people for granted anymore,” Barrera said. “They're gonna have to earn their votes.”

Trump drew out first time voters like Jesse James Delgado, who said he doesn't trust Democrats.

“This is the first time I voted, and what got me to vote for Donald J. Trump was all the lies,” Delgado said.

According to Taylor, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton did better with Valley voters in the 2016 election than Kamala Harris did. Though all four valley counties shifted to the right, Taylor said one result made him look twice. 

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“The one county that stood out first to me was Starr County, which had voted Democratic every year since 1896, “Taylor said.

Barrera said he felt Trump addressed issues that concerned people in the Valley, and that Harris didn’t address them.

“She didn't have an issue that she was championing like Trump did,” Barrera said. “If you have an issue you can rally around, people will follow you. Trump did that: inflation, border security, gas and oil."

Though Starr County has gotten national attention due to it flipping red, County Judge Eloy Vera told Channel 5 News he doesn't agree with the new label.

“I don't believe Starr County is anywhere close to being red,” Vera said. “If you look at all the local races that had Republican opponents, the Democrats won very decisively."

As experts try to figure out why his county swung towards Trump, Vera — a Democrat — echoed the same issues Barrera did.

“The Biden administration certainly did not do a very good job as far as servicing the border regions. Border security was an issue, and inflation,” Vera said. “We live in a very low area in terms of income. When the cost of food doubles or triples, we're the ones that hurt the most."

Taylor said this shift towards the right in the region mostly came from Latino men, adding that he believes Democrats will rethink their strategies in for the Valley in the future.

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