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THE ROUNDTABLE
A recent poll shows 60 percent of Latino voters feel largely ignored by both Democrats and Republicans, amid the Latino uptick in GOP support.
Since the election of U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas), Republicans are hoping to capture disappointed Latinos who have consistently voted blue. Latinos are the youngest racial or ethnic group in the country — and they’re the largest racial minority in the country. Even in Midwestern cities like Chicago and Milwaukee — far from the Southern border — their numbers are now comparable to white populations.
Is the conservative shift among Latinos playing out in Democratic bastions like Chicago? POLITICO’s Minho Kim spent some time in the Second City, where there’s not a single Latino Republican on the 50-seat City Council.
He spoke with Latino Democrats Alderman Gilbert Villegas, a moderate; Delia Ramirez, a progressive who won the Democratic primary for Illinois’ new Latino-majority congressional district; and Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a progressive. (In the coming weeks, Minho will explore Latino attitudes toward Republicans.)
THE RECAST: Does Mayra Flores’ message of “God, country and family” resonate with Latino voters in Chicago?
RAMIREZ: No. Not to the extent that it would in Florida or Georgia. The politics of the younger generation is very left of their parents.
My husband’s uncles are Republicans, but their children don't agree. They go to church but push back on abortion and same-sex marriage. This new district I represent attempts to capture the migration of Latinos moving west, out of the city. The district has been very conservative: The western parts are one of the most Evangelical parts in Illinois. But I ran against a moderate Democrat and won the [primary] by 41 points — and I got more margin in [the suburbs] than in the city.
RAMIREZ-ROSA: After Flores won, I saw her ad where she talks with a big plate of carne asada. She was leaning into identity politics: being proud of your heritage. But no faction owns that. I reject the message of “God, country and family” being sold as inherently conservative — I’m for God, country and family. In Chicago, we continue to see progressive Latino candidates win office, even when [conservative Democrats] run using local churches as a base of support.
THE RECAST: How can major parties make inroad into Latino voters? What is the best strategy?
VILLEGAS: [On my campaign trail,] I did a series of town halls. That’s where we were able to pick up volunteers and have discussions that resonated with the voters. Outreach work as simple as a town hall [made voters] feel that someone was listening.
RAMIREZ: I think Democrats haven’t done enough to deliver. On the campaign trail, I talked to voters who said, “I'm done voting. I don’t care if you are Latino, Black or white.” If we don’t deliver on immigration, if we don’t [build] a system that Latinos believe would champion small businesses and minimum wage jobs, then we are going to lose them. And we got to go beyond identity politics and tokenism. Fight for excellence and representation [should] go hand-in-hand.
