SALINA, Kan. - Latino voters will once again be a powerful force the upcoming elections. Candidates who want to court their vote will probably need to do more than just say a few words in Spanish.
Latino voters were pivotal to the victories of both President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats during the election of 2008. These voters are poised to prove pivotal yet again in 2010 in a number of battleground U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and gubernatorial races across the nation. Latinos are a core constituency in many less competitive districts as well, including Kansas.
A new report published by America's Voice says, "Candidates for political office in 2010, elected officials, and political strategists would be wise to not just look at how Latino voters are likely to vote this cycle, but why."
A National Journal analysis of new Census Bureau data has found that 205 members in the House -- almost half of the chamber -- represent districts in which minorities constitute at least 30 percent of the population. That's nearly double the one-fourth of members who hailed from districts that diverse during the 1990s.
This pervasive diversity is literally changing the House's complexion, opening fresh fault lines both between and within the parties, and adding twists to their legislative and political competition.
"We're entering a new era which is being defined to a great degree by the incredible explosion of the nonwhite electorate and its distribution around the country," says Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a Democratic group that studies electoral trends. "The growth of this nonwhite population is creating a fundamentally new politics in the United States."
Like all Americans, the economic crisis continues to be the biggest concern for Latinos voters. The report points out that although immigration is not the number one issue for most Latino voters, it is clearly a defining issue.
An earlier report put out by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) put it this way, "the potency of immigration as a 'voting issue' should not be underestimated. Both polling data and Hispanic voting behavior over multiple election cycles shows that immigration serves as a lens through which Latinos assess the political environment and candidate attitudes not just toward immigrants, but toward their community as a whole."
Latinos are interested in how immigrants from Latin American countries are treated once they arrive in this country. They want border controls that work, but more than that, they want consistently applied and enforced laws. Latinos want comprehensive immigration reform that contains assurances that the rules are clear enough so that those who play by the rules will receive protections. They want workplace safety and they want to be able to educate their children here.
If they work here legally and play by the rules, they also want to be able to travel back to Mexico and other countries of origin without fear of not being allowed to return back the U.S.
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