The Sleeping Giant – Was a Woman

By Nisie

November 5, 2026

Did Republicans think the sleeping giant wouldn’t be startled awake by the screams of children in Dilley, Tx from the detention centers, or the parents weeping for their family, isolated, wondering if they will ever make it back home? Well, the sleeping giant awoke, and when she did, she must have decided to take a dip at Padre Island because behind her came a massive blue tsunami. The wave crashed through district after district, county after county in Texas, and by the end of election night the wave turned into a calm sea of blue.

The sleeping giant was beginning to start sounding like a fairy tale, but after the results of the midterms we learned the elusive beast was very real. According to numbers released by LULAC, at least 1.6 million Latinos used their vote as their voice this cycle. In 2022, the Latino vote didn’t even reach 1 million. Latina voters led the way.  The final numbers will not be out for a couple of weeks, but Latina voters outnumbered Latino men by at least 10% in nearly every county, with even higher margins in some. Latinas didn’t just show up to the polls; they campaigned.

Texans made history by electing the first-ever Latina Governor, Gina Hinojosa. Hinojosa’s campaign faced millions of dollars in negative campaign ads; at one point, Abbott was spending at least $ 1 million a day on the campaign trail. But all the money in the world was no match for the women's vote in Texas. Preliminary NBC News exit polls show that 55% of the Democratic vote in Texas were women. Leading the way for fundamental changes to the political landscape, statewide and in Tarrant County. Four Latinas have been elected to the Texas House of Representatives. Veronica Escobar of District 16, Katy Padilla Stout of District 23, Sylvia Garcia of District 29, and Leticia Gutierrez of District 9.

Here in Tarrant County, the commissioners court was majority Republican for 15 years before this week. Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, Commissioner Matt Kraus, and Commissioner Manny Ramirez were intent on keeping it that way by redrawing the districts to be in Republicans' favor. In an interview in May, O'Hare said he was redistricting Tarrant County "to put another Republican on the commissioners court. Period." League of Women’s Voters and LULAC Council 4568 filed a lawsuit against the county, the commissioners court, and Judge Tim O’Hare, but it was dismissed by the Tarrant County district judge. By fall last year, the new map passed with a 3-2 party-line vote. But all the gerrymandering in the world couldn’t stop voters in Tarrant County. While new maps were challenged in court to no avail, grassroots organizers kept working—knocking on doors, making calls, and registering voters.

Nydia Cardena’s campaign was powered by grassroots organizing; she flipped Precinct 4 from red to blue and became the first Latina to serve on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. Alissa Simmons of Precinct 2 ran against Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare; some may call him the “final boss” in the game of democracy, while others call him the “dollar store Trump” for his MAGA-adjacent policies and tyrannical attitude toward constituents. But Allissa Simmons proved to be more powerful and is now the first woman- black woman to hold a judge seat in Tarrant County. Democrats also voted in Celina Vasquez, the first Latina to serve as Justice of the Peace. 

The sleeping giant awoke from her beauty sleep to possibly change the political landscape of Texas forever, and to show America that democracy cannot be bought.