National leaders discuss how to appeal to Latino voters


Amid this month’s presidential rallies and debates in Miami, which sparked political conversation throughout South Florida, a group of Democratic leaders and advocates from around the country visited FIU to discuss how presidential candidates can better broach issues important in the Latino community.

Left to right: Maria Cardona, a principal at Dewey Square Group and the founder of Latinovations; environmentalist Tom Steyer, founder of NextGen Climate; actress-and-advocate Eva Longoria, co-founder of the Latino Victory Project; Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas); and FIU student Salome Garcia, an environmentalist and vice president of FIU’s Age of Aquarius

Left to right: Maria Cardona, a principal at Dewey Square Group and the founder of Latinovations; environmentalist Tom Steyer, founder of NextGen Climate; actress-and-advocate Eva Longoria, co-founder of the Latino Victory Project; Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas); and FIU student Salome Garcia, an environmentalist and vice president of FIU’s Age of Aquarius

While around 27 million Latinos were eligible to vote in the 2012 election, only about 49 percent of them did, said Castro; the reason for which, according to the speakers, was candidates’ lack of appeal to issues that matter in the community.

This year, candidates will need to figure out how to appeal to voters on a personal level if they hope to take the lead in the polls.

“The question, for virtually every American, is not how they’re going to vote. The question is whether they’re going to vote. So when we think about who is going to make the difference in votes, the sleeping giant of American politics is the Hispanic population,” said Steyer, who lives in California, where 32 percent of the population is Latino. “This is the audience that will determine to a very large extent who shows up.”

Longoria pointed out that a common misconception about Latino voters among politicians is that they only care about immigration policy. On the contrary, she said, Latino voters are interested in policies that will create jobs, equal pay, access to education and a better economy, in addition to immigration policy.

“I think a big misconception is that ‘Latino’ is synonymous with ‘immigrant,’ or that ‘Latino’ is synonymous with ‘illegal,’” Longoria said. “And that is not true, and I think both parties should be courting the Latino vote. No party should take us for granted.”

So how do politicians appeal to voters in a way that will encourage them to head to the polls?

Steyer, who advocates for climate action, said the best way to inspire people to vote is to make important issues relate to them on a personal level.

“People vote because it impacts them, the lives of their family, the lives of the people they love,” Steyer said, commenting that people just aren’t as inspired by environmentalism when they hear about polar bears dying as they are when they hear that his own mother went blind from pesticides sprayed in her home town.

Steyer finds he makes more successful connections with voters when he explains how the clean energy movement could create hundreds of thousands of jobs in Florida alone, how the lack of access to clean drinking water affects cities around the nation, and—particularly in Miami—the notion of a city under water in 100 years.

“If we can’t bring it down to a local, human point, we have nothing,” Steyer said.

Longoria added: “This is all about, ‘How does policy affect people?’”

Another issue is the lack of Latino representation, and thus the lack of Latino voice, in the government. While Latinos make up 17 percent of the population in the United States, they comprise only 1 percent of elected office.

“When you’re constantly told your people don’t count, it’s hard to get us in elected office,” said Longoria, whose nonprofit is aimed at helping Latinos gain elected office in the United States.

Garcia, a senior international relations and sociology student, commented that young people also feel left out of the voting pool, despite the large portion of eligible young voters in the United States. Politicians tend not to target young voters for the same reason they don’t target Latino voters: the lack of voter turnout in the community.

“I feel like my vote doesn’t count,” Garcia said.

But Castro views Latinos, as well as young people, as aspiring communities.

“I often talk about building an infrastructure of opportunity in America,” he said. And one way to ensure equal opportunity is to make sure every demographic feels that their vote counts.

“It’s important for candidates to understand that Latino issues are American issues,” Longoria said. “The future success of America is intricately tied to the future success of the Latino community.”