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ALLENTOWN, Pa. — No doubt. Just one thing. That’s what Victor Martinez wanted from the listeners of his Spanish radio station – tell him one positive thing about President Donald Trump.
The calls started coming in. Someone mentioned the $5,000 payment Trump promised if Republicans took control of Congress, which Martinez thought was so funny that he played a laugh track.
Then a trucker shared a cash line from high diesel prices – he planned to take an unplanned vacation because he could no longer fill his truck.
Martinez has been hosting his show for nearly a decade in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, where Latinos have gone from a fifth to nearly a quarter of the population over the same period. He added an hour of politics to his morning talk show at the end of Trump’s first term, and listeners flooded his phone with their concerns about the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, their dissatisfaction with inflation and their concern about Joe Biden’s age.
Now, halfway through Trump’s second term, Martinez said people are just as frustrated as they were then. They are angry about higher prices for fuel and groceries, and Republicans could face the consequences in the midterm elections.
“It’s the economy, stupid. That’s what it is. I mean, things have gotten so bad,” Martinez said. “People didn’t think Biden did a good job. Everything was expensive and now it’s worse.
Martinez broadcasts from a fourth-floor studio with hardwood floors and a view of an old church in downtown Allentown. He operates the show’s control board like an orchestra conductor and sits in front of a poster with campaign signs for Democrats and Republicans.
The studio is located in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, where incumbent Ryan MacKenzie will face Democratic challenger Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter and union official, in one of the closest races in the country.
Latinos make up about a quarter of the district’s population, and were a key part of the coalition that won Trump two years ago.
Both candidates have organized Latino outreach efforts.
Brooks calls his “Bombero Bob” — Spanish for firefighter — and recently stopped by a Mexican restaurant and a barbershop with a Dominican flag hanging inside. Mackenzie’s campaign has drawn support from Latino voters and officials, and the congressman opened a district office in downtown Allentown with Spanish-speaking staff.
Martinez is a longtime critic of the president, and this year he is supporting Brooks. But he said his political roots are in the Republican Party. He supported candidates like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, and opposed Biden’s decision to seek re-election because he was too old.
Martinez said he uses his show to keep people engaged in politics when some have despaired of the prospect of things getting better.
“I got a call yesterday from a guy who said he just wasn’t going to vote,” Martinez said. “I understand that feeling frustrated, but doing nothing is not the answer.”
Republicans know that the Martinez show is a way to reach voters, and they are buying advertising time on it.
Jackie Rivera, the Lehigh County Republican vice chairwoman, said the party wants to keep up with the support of Latino voters Trump won two years ago, and that means connecting with them on issues like “religion and family.”
Although Trump often brags about the economy under his leadership, she said that her party was not making the same mistake that the Democrats did before.
“We are not pretending that everything is very good right now,” she said. “You have to be honest with them so they can believe in you and trust what you’re telling them.”
Matt Tuerk, the Democratic mayor of Allentown, said that this year’s election has the same “ethos” as two years ago, when Biden was trying to convince people that the economy was strong.
“People on the street were like, ‘Yeah, but my monthly childcare bill is higher and then I have my monthly mortgage, the price of groceries is really high,'” he said. “That’s the same story you’re hearing right now. No progress has been made.”
Claudia Parrales-DeLeon, a Democrat from Allentown, said Martinez’s show helps people feel connected as they pay more for gas and groceries and oppose Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“I don’t know if it scares people less, as much as it makes people more aware,” she said.
She recalled listening one day when a particular caller’s story brought tears to her eyes.
“This is the same gentleman who told me how he lost his job, that he can’t find a job, that he doesn’t even know where he’s going to get his next meal for himself and his children,” she said.
Alberto Pena does not regularly listen to Martinez, but his concerns are similar. For nearly two decades, Pena and his wife have run a Dominican restaurant in Allentown, where the aroma of crispy pastelillos and delicious rice fills the dining room.
He voted for Trump hoping he would turn things around after high inflation under Biden. But they’re still “living day to day,” and he’s leaning toward Brooks this year.
“This is not what we expected,” he said. “The economy is completely on the ground.”
