The two issues that helped Trump surge in deep blue Massachusetts

Donald Trump made huge gains in deep blue Massachusetts due to voters unhappiness over illegal migrants and inflation, according to analysts.

While the president-elect did not manage to flip the reliably Democrat state, he did outperform compared to his previous showings there.

Trump improved on his 2020 showing by four percentage points and even managed to clinch a win in 12 communities.

In the Massachusetts State House, the GOP managed to gain a legislative seat, ousting a veteran Democrat.

Ultimately, what the results from yesterday say is that Republicans were more focused on the issues that matter to people, Republican pollster Jon McHenry told the Boston Globe. 

Donald Trump made huge gains in deep blue Massachusetts due to his messaging around illegal migrants and inflation , according to analysts. Hyannis on Cape Cod is pictured 

They are laser-focused on the economy and very focused on illegal immigration, which has had an outsized impact on Massachusetts. 

Locals also told the outlet that the border had become a hot button issue for them.

I feel like a lot of [the migrants] are coming here and are getting food stamps, and housing, and all that stuff that should go to other people that do live here, Matt Johnson, 36, from Norfolk.

Massachusetts Democrat Governor Maura Healey slammed then-President Trump in 2017 over his decision to strip federal funding from sanctuary cities, including Boston.

But earlier this year, she traveled to Texas to urge migrants not to travel to the Bay State after local services struggled to cope with a huge surge of border crossers. 

Louis Murray, 59, from West Roxbury, is a staunch Trump supporter who claimed that Massachusetts is a now a border state. 

He added that Democrats, fully opened the border. . . . So you cant double down on the border and not expect the people to react.

An influx of illegal migrants has led to tensions flaring in parts of the state. In Stoughton, parents were left furious after budget cuts led to school bus services being axed, but shuttles for asylum seekers remained.

In August, it was reported that around 50,000 illegal migrants had entered Massachusetts since Joe Biden took office in 2021.

The situation became so pressing that migrants were being held in emergency shelters at Logan Airport until they too began to overflow.

Many voters were motivated by Trumps promises on immigration after becoming 

Massachusetts has welcomed more than 50,000 illegal migrants in the last four years, many of whom had to be housed temporarily at Logan Airport (pictured)

Trump returned around 48,000 more votes in Massachusetts this election compared to 2020, equivalent to 36 and 32 percent of the vote respectively.

He won a majority in almost 80 out of the states 351 constituencies, some of which flipped in his favor. 

Much of the support came from rural parts and places near the Connecticut border, such as southeastern Massachusetts where Kelly Dooner won the states Senate race over Democrat Marc Pacheco.

Dooner ran in Taunton, which hit headlines after the city sued a local hotel for housing too many migrants.

Elsewhere, economic issues appeared to have swung the vote for Republicans in Massachusetts.

A lot of working Americans and working residents of Massachusetts do not feel that their concerns are being heard, Republican Chair Amy Carnevale said.

For Bostonian Frank Kenny, 54, soaring inflation helped sway his vote towards Trump. 

Other voters cited Trumps pledges to bring down the cost of living for average Americans as the reason for their vote 

People were saying Trumps an animal and all this stuff — the media has just ruined it, Kenny said. But things were better [under Trump]. People were making money.

A Forbes study earlier this year put the cost of living in Massachusetts at $50,000 per year, making it the second highest in the US. 

Other voters cited Trumps perceived robustness on foreign policy as the reason for their vote.

The situation in Massachusetts was echoed elsewhere across New England, which typically skews blue, as Trump made strides in Maine and Rhode Island.

Even in Democrat stronghold New York, Trump saw a whopping 12 point improvement on his margin to Biden in 2020.