Hispanics or Latinos are the 30 percent of the population of the United States, but they have a long way to go in representation, although they have advanced towards Congress and could achieve more positions in the midterm elections of 8 of November.
The majority of Latino congressmen are Democrats with 33 positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate; against 12 positions of the Republicans, including the recently elected Mayra Flores (Texas), who still faces a challenge to remain in the elections.
Nathalie Reyes, president and CEO of Latino Victory , an organization that emerged in 2014, promotes Hispanics at all levels of government, highlighted that currently the Hispanic population throughout the United States covers a 20%.
“ Hispanics are the 20% of the total population of this country, our goal is to ensure that we have Latino candidates running and winning at all levels , we also want the Latino community voting. After eight years we believe that we have done a good job ensuring that we have expanded the Congress with many Latinos and also in the Senate with exemplary Latinos,” Reyes commented in an interview for Real America News.
Diana Castañeda, Communication Director of BOLD PAC, the campaign arm of the Hispanic Committee of Congress for 20 years old, and whose mission is to increase diversity with more Latinos and Latinas who can occupy a place and represent the diversity of the US, she feels proud because the number of Latino legislators in Congress is increasing.
“BOLD PAC has 37 members in Congress, both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, but we have also managed to elect the first Latina senator, Catherine Cortez. In the last elections we managed to place two new members, Teresa Léger Fernández, the first Latina to represent New Mexico, and Ritchie Torres from New York”, shared Castañeda.
The Republican Advance
Recent polls by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and BSP Research confirm that Republicans are advancing among Latino voters.
“Latino voters continue to favor Democrats over Republicans by a margin of 53 a 33 percent in the contests for Congress”, indicates the recent survey.
This means an advance of more than 10 Republican percentage points relative to 2018, a midterm election.
“The presence of Latino candidates is important because they share the same principles and values, They have also faced the same needs and problems as migrants,” says Jaime Florez of the Republican Party.
Florez presumed that his party has 120 Republican candidates, but did not break down how many are Latino.
“Of course there are Latino candidates who share the same principles and values, who In addition, they have faced the same needs and problems of migrants, whether first or second generation,” he said without mentioning the attacks by Republican governors on migrants, such as the case of Ron DeSantis in Florida, who is facing a lawsuit for sending immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Florida.
Unlike the Democratic candidates, the Republicans have positions against undocumented immigrants, such as This is the case of Mayra Flores in Texas and Juan Ciscomani in Arizona, despite the fact that their families are migrants.
The challenge of resources
On some occasions, despite being excellent candidates for their preparation, enthusiasm and values, the infrastructure to which Latinos have access is not always the same as that of other candidates, since there is a lack of money and contributions, although they have achieved a lot with less.
“We are very optimistic for this cycle, because we saw how Latinos moved for the presidential elections with an increase of 30% with respect to the previous presidential elections”, stated Castañeda. “The Latino vote tends to be higher in terms of participation during presidential elections than in mid-term elections.”
After verifying that a candidate for Congress has worked in favor of Hispanic communities, BOLD PAC can connect him with other organizations that have the support of the Hispanic Caucus of the Congress (CHC), which allows them to increase their possibilities to receive funding and advice.
“For the mid-term elections that are in November, we started looking for candidates. After seeing in the censuses that the Latino community is one of the largest in the country and has boosted its growth, we have realized that Hispanic politicians have grown in non-traditional states” he affirmed.
How difficult must it be for a Spanish-speaking official to be able to reach Congress?, Latino Victori was questioned.
“The situation with our candidates depends on money, since they do not have the infrastructure that others may have to ensure a great campaign, but they are fighting to win,” said Reyes.
Voters in key states
The states where the largest number of Latino voters could be concentrated, such as Texas or California, there are other states that are beginning to have a presence, such is the case of Virginia, Carolina South, Tennessee, Georgia, New Mexico, where Hispanics are gaining strength.
“Hispanic voters they are acquiring more enthusiasm, we have already seen it in the primary elections”, recognized the Republican Florez. “For the Republican Party it is important to have Hispanic candidates who are on the ballot and they are also the best candidates because they are well prepared. Republican voters who have gone to cast their vote is because they feel identified when they find Hispanic surnames on their ballot and they immediately vote for them”.
The highest priority issues for the Hispanic community in the US are job opportunities, medical insurance, security for their children at school, education, affordable housing, although there may be many more, each of these are contemplated by the candidates of the political parties so that the community feels confident.
“The most important problem is the economy and this administration has been a disaster, because what we earn is not enough for us because everything costs more and we are not going to progress like this, because we can hardly save, we can hardly pay the basics”, added Florez.
BOLD PAC has implemented campaigns that benefit Latino communities across the country, such is the case of “ Our Fight” a program that is on the YouTube platform.
“Latinos look for news through social networks. We try to keep the community informed on important issues such as the pandemic, now with all the initiatives that are in favor of them, and tell them that several of these benefits are now due to the administration of President Biden,” Castañeda completed.