Invoking ethnic identity in the service of right-wing rhetoric: an analysis of 2022 Latina republican candidates in South Texas

Abstract Growing identification by U.S. Latines with the Republican Party has been of interest since the 2020 presidential election, especially in South Texas. This article presents a rhetorical criticism of three Republican Latina candidates for Congress in the 2022 midterms. Utilizing Latine rhetorical criticism of their campaign ads, we identify the strategic deployment of conservative ethnic identity that disavows racialized identity through anti-immigrant rhetoric. Instead of moderating anti-immigration discourse, as has been suggested by observers on how to attract Latine voters, these candidates instead redirect the immigrant threat narrative towards other subgroups of Latines. Also key in the deployment of ethnic identity for right-wing appeals is the construction of a political persona that emphasizes traditional Latine gender roles in the service of political activism. Finally, there is a mystification of the underlying reasons for economic precarity that is nevertheless based on local histories of exploitation in South Texas.