Democrats worry that record inflation in grocery stores and at the gas pump might continue to push more Latino voters into the arms of the GOP.
For a moment on an afternoon in late June, Sen. Mark Kelly’s campaign staff and volunteers managed to transform the back lot of a south Phoenix strip mall into a full-blown festival.
Counting roughly 1.2 million, Latinos now make up one-fourth of eligible voters in Arizona. As many as 644,600 Latinos could vote in the 2022 midterms, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. "I am incredibly honored to have the support of the Latino community," Kelly said while on stage."Business leaders, elected officials, educators and activists. Since taking office, I've always been focused on representing Arizonans.
That's important, said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., because Democratic campaigns have historically waited"until the last couple of weeks" before election day to really target Latino voters. Latinos in Arizona and Nevada, however, have historically overwhelmingly backed Democrats. Gallego gets it. He said he grew up in Chicago, in a Latino family he described as"somewhat conservative." They went to church and believed in family values. But they voted blue, because of"tradition," he said. And because they agreed with Democratic politics.
A spate of recent legislative wins, including the passage of long-promised climate change legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan approval of the CHIPS and PACT acts, have seen the president's approval ratings inch slightly upward. They now stand at just under 40%. Yadira Sanchez, executive director of the progressive political organizing group Poder Latinx, said that Democrats' inability to message against what she called erroneous GOP-directed messaging on the economy further hurts Democrats.
“Arizona Democrats fueled this 40-year-high inflation and their answer now is to deny, deflect and double down on the same bad ideas that caused the crisis," Petersen said. "Arizonans see right through it and will reject Democrats who rubber-stamped Joe Biden’s disastrous agenda like Mark Kelly, Tom O’Halleran and Greg Stanton at the ballot box.
Ciscomani, former Doug Ducey adviser and native of Mexico, won the Republican primary for Arizona's 6th Congressional District. He drew raucous applause when he spoke in Spanish before a crowd of roughly 175 supporters during his victory speech that night in Tucson. And then, he spoke to the Hispanic community; he said they'd been left out.
"Candidates matter, their positions matter and meaningful outreach is essential," Martinez said."And the fact that it continues to not happen with the intensity necessary amounts to political malpractice if you're a campaign operator."About 30,000 Latinos turn 18 every year in Arizona, according to a new Census report. That's a lot of political capital.
Kelly is one of several House and Senate candidates that are locked in tight races in battleground states A federal judge has barred the lifting of the restriction for now, but Kelly's stance has put him at odds with most Latino advocacy groups.
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