Fed Up with Being a Doormat for Trump’s Cruelty, Disparagement and Hate
While there are many storylines and implications from Super Tuesday and what it means for November, the engagement and power of the Latino electorate should be part of the discussion. While we await more evidence in coming days documenting Latino turnout particulars, early data and anecdotes highlight the energy and sheer size of the growing Latino electorate both in key 2020 states and nationwide.
According to Mario Carrillo, Campaigns Manager for America’s Voice:
Last night and throughout the early primary states, Latino voters have shown that they are tired of the cruelty of the last four years. Both in Texas and California, as well as Latino communities in North Carolina,Virginia, Utah, Colorado and elsewhere, Latinos made their voices heard ahead of what will be one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime. In many places in black and Latino neighborhoods, voters had to overcome long lines, but wouldn’t let voter suppression tactics interfere with their right to vote. In Texas, voters showed up in numbers higher than in 2016, and voted for a future of our country that better reflects the values of all Americans, including Latinos and immigrants. To win the presidency, every candidate will have to do the work, listen to Latinos, and commit to fighting for us.
Among the key numbers and additional commentary include:
- The New York Times noted the pivotal role Latino voters would play in California and Texas, writing: “One analysis estimates that roughly one-third of the 643 delegates up for grabs in those two states will be determined by Latino voters.”
- In California, approximately 140 of the state’s delegates awarded on Super Tuesday will come from the projected Latino vote share in CA – “that’s only 13 fewer delegates than all four first state contests have awarded” in total, as Indivisible’s National Political Director Mari Urbina noted.
- In Colorado, UCLA’s Latino Politics and Policy Initiative (LPPI) reported that the state’s growing Latino electorate made up 17% of the expected share of Democratic voters.
- Before the North Carolina primary, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) predicted that 230,000 Latinos would participate in this year’s general election and the percentage of voters who are Latino doubled between 2014 and 2018, according to Reuters.
- In Virginia, UCLA’s Latino Politics and Policy Initiative (LPPI) reported that there was a 57% increase in the number of ballots cast between 2016 and 2020 in Virginia precincts w/ the highest Latino CVAP. Latino engagement is a key part of the larger story of Virginia’s increased 2020 Democratic turnout.
- In Texas, turnout in majority Latino communities like El Paso, McAllen, San Antonio was up from 2016 and Latino voters made up a third of the electorate in the state.
- Many Latino voters motivated by desire to defeat xenophobia and President Trump: The Times piece also captured that many “Latino Democrats are seeking the candidate who is best poised to take on President Trump, who many believe has placed a target on their own backs with his anti-immigrant rhetoric. These voters, far from a monolith but united on some key issues, will cast their ballots in Texas exactly seven months after the deadliest anti-Latino attack in modern American history took place in El Paso.” The piece then quoted Christian Arana, the policy director for the Latino Community Foundation, saying, “It’s hard to be Latino right now. There are so many of us who feel we have to constantly be on the watch for something terrible. People are channeling their anger into voting in a way we have not seen historically.”
- Importance of sustained engagement and investment: Key voices are also weighing in about the importance of continued and sustained investment and authentic engagement with Latinos. As Mayra Macías, executive director of Latino Victory Fund, said: “What used to happen was you avoided talking about Latinos until Florida. Now we are seeing that there is no path to victory without speaking holistically to them.”
