Although the evidence does not establish how Portuguese-American voters individually cast their ballots, midterm election returns from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and California reveal a Democratic rebound in several communities with strong Portuguese roots.
The results raise questions about whether Republican gains associated with Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory are holding among Portuguese-American-dominant communities.
Election results reveal significant Democratic victories in several communities with large Portuguese-American populations, including Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton in Massachusetts, East Providence in Rhode Island, Newark in New Jersey, and California’s Central Valley.
The emerging pattern shows Democratic improvement in several communities with substantial Portuguese-American populations, rather than a uniform rejection of Trump by Portuguese-American voters.
The 2024 presidential election itself produced mixed outcomes: Trump carried Fall River and Turlock, while Harris carried New Bedford, East Providence and Newark. The 2026 midterms continued to reveal substantial regional differences.
The strongest evidence of a Democratic recovery comes from Fall River, where Trump narrowly defeated Kamala Harris in 2024, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate in modern electoral history to carry the city. In East Providence, home to a longstanding Portuguese-American community, Harris received 13,750 votes against Trump’s 8,663 in 2024, while the 2026 returns again favored Democrats.
Democratic Senator Jack Reed also carried East Providence, receiving 11,572 votes to Republican Raymond McKay’s 4,072, while Democratic gubernatorial candidate Helena Buonanno Foulkes received 10,368 votes. Independent Kenneth Block finished second in the city with 4,425 votes, ahead of Republican Aaron Guckian’s 1,881.
Newark, including its historic Portuguese Ironbound neighborhood, continued to favor Democratic candidates. In 2024, Harris defeated Trump citywide by 52,543 votes to 13,754. In the November 2026 Senate election, Democratic incumbent Cory Booker led Republican Justin Murphy in Newark.
Democratic Congressman Rob Menendez also won reelection in New Jersey’s 8th Congressional District, which includes the Ironbound. However, he did not face a Republican opponent in the general election, limiting the usefulness of that race for measuring Republican support.
California produced one of the election’s most consequential results for Portuguese-American representation in Congress. Republican David Valadao, whose family emigrated from the Azores in 1969, lost his 22nd Congressional District seat to Democrat Randy Villegas. Unofficial returns updated November 11 showed Villegas receiving 93,110 votes, or 67.9%, compared with Valadao’s 44,013, or 32.1%, with an estimated 92% of the vote counted.
By contrast, Democratic Congressman Jim Costa, whose grandparents emigrated from the Azores, won reelection in the 21st District. Unofficial returns through November 11 showed Costa leading Republican Kyle Kirkland by 89,638 votes to 50,260, approximately 64.1% to 35.9%.
Both districts were redrawn for the 2026 election following California’s Proposition 50, meaning that changes in district boundaries must be considered before interpreting either result as evidence of a shift among Portuguese-American voters.
In the northern Central Valley, Democrat Adam Gray also won reelection against Republican Kevin Lincoln, who had received Trump’s endorsement. The redrawn 13th District includes Merced County and parts of Stanislaus County, including Turlock. By November 10, Gray had received 95,939 votes against Lincoln’s 58,823 districtwide.
In Merced County, where Trump defeated Harris by 43,955 votes to 40,190 in 2024, Gray led Lincoln by 40,578 to 29,503 in the 2026 congressional count. This is a substantial Democratic improvement across different elections, although it cannot be attributed specifically to Portuguese-American voters in Hilmar or elsewhere in the county.
Although more detailed research is required, it was reported that 14 Americans of Azorean descent were elected on November 3, 2026, most of them representing the Democratic Party, underscoring the continuing political influence of the Azorean diaspora, reflecting broader Democratic gains nationwide.
Among the prominent Portuguese-American candidates elected were Democratic U.S. Representatives Jim Costa and Sam Liccardo of California and Lori Loureiro Trahan of Massachusetts. Costa is the grandson of immigrants from Terceira Island, while Trahan has family roots on Graciosa Island. At the state level, Democratic Senators Michael Rodrigues, Jacob Oliveira and Dylan Fernandes won reelection in Massachusetts. In California, Democrat Brian Pacheco was elected to the State Assembly, while Democrat Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and Republican Alexandra “Ali” Macedo secured reelection. Republican State Senator Jessica de la Cruz was also reelected in Rhode Island.
However, the success of Democratic candidates of Portuguese descent does not necessarily indicate a broader shift in voting preferences among Portuguese-Americans, whose political affiliations remain diverse.
Consequently, claims that Portuguese Americans either abandoned the Republican Party or remained overwhelmingly loyal to Trmp, would require additional evidence, preferably representative surveys combined with carefully matched precinct-level data.
The clearest conclusion is that Democratic candidates made measurable gains in several Portuguese-American population centers in 2026, while Republican support remained competitive in others. The results suggest that the political realignment associated with the Republican Party and Trump’s 2024 victory is neither uniform nor necessarily permanent.
Carolina Matos/Editor/With PAJ/Staff
