As Michigan’s Latino population grows, Asa Zuccaro said the state’s leading political parties should strengthen their efforts to attract Latino voters.
“It seems like the efforts by our country to ensure that people are practicing our civic duty if this is our right and our responsibility as citizens of this country. I feel like there should be efforts produced besides community organizations but from the system itself to make sure that communities – that are oftentimes unrepresented in the process – are actually going to vote,” said Zuccaro, director of the Latinx Technology and Community Center of Flint, an organization helps to encourage voter participation.
Michigan’s Latino population, which makes up 5.6% of the state’s 10.1 million people, has increased from 4.4% over the 2010 U.S. Census bureau statistics.
Asa Zuccaro, executive director of the Latinx Technology & Community Center in Flint. | Asa Zuccaro photo
Zuccaro estimates that the state has a 67 to 33% split of Democrats to Republicans.
Max Rodriquez is Latino, lives in Allen Park and has worked as a Democratic Party organizer in the past. He described himself as “to the left of Bernie Sanders,” referring to the Vermont U.S. Senate independent who’s a leading progressive voice and twice ran for president as a Democrat.
However, Rodriquez said that political generalizations about Latino voters can lead to false conclusions. There’s a lot of variance based on someone’s country of origin, American region of residence and personal experiences, he said.
“It depends on the individual. It depends on the family,” said Rodriquez.
Zuccaro said that Shane Hernandez, a former state House member and current GOP lieutenant governor candidate, will appeal to Latino voters who tend to vote for Republican candidates.The former state House Appropriations chair from Port Huron was tapped by GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon.
If elected on Nov. 8, Hernandez would be Michigan’s first Latino lieutenant governor.
In her Aug. 19 statement announcing Hernandez as her running mate, Dixon did not mention his racial identity but rather his fiscal philosophy and policy differences with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“He is a conservative Republican who believes in limited government, fiscal responsibility, and individual liberties,” Dixon’s announcement said. “Hernandez led the fight against Gretchen Whitmer’s 45-cent per gallon gas tax increase and has opposed Whitmer’s attempts to close Line 5.”
Hernandez told the Advance this week that he grew up in a “working-class, union family, which at the time we believed made us Democrats.”
GOP LG nominee Shane Hernandez at a Sept. 27, 2022 press conference in Lansing | Laina G. Stebbins
“As we examined issues we discovered we actually are Republicans and conservatives because those are the movements that reflect our values,” Hernandez added. “My father, who began his life as a migrant worker and became a union leader was among the last to realize his conservatism, but now holds the most conservative views. I strongly believe that such re-examination is happening because Hispanics care about faith and family first and foremost. Like so many others across Michigan, those families are concerned about the erosion of parental rights and the direction of our schools that are failing to teach our children basic skills like reading, writing, science and math.”
The Michigan Republican Party did not respond to a request for an interview for this story.
In recent decades, there have been a growing number of Latino and Latina lawmakers in Michigan.
Belda Garza, a Detroit Democrat, holds the distinction of being the state’s first Latinx state House member and was elected in 1998. Valde Garcia, from St. Johns was elected to the state House in 1998 and state Senate in 2000. He was the first Latino Republican to serve in the Michigan Legislature.
Nearly 25 years after Garza and Garcia were first elected, several Michiganders of Latino descent have served in the state Legislature – as many as 13 at one time, according to the Michigan Legislative Latino Caucus.
That body is chaired by state Rep. Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Twp.) and state Rep. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton) is vice chair. State Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) serves as secretary and Rep. Alex Garza (D-Taylor) serves as treasurer.
Last session, there were heated conflicts over Republican legislation taking aim at immigration, such as 2019 bills that would block so-called “sanctuary counties.” As the then-chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus, Garza opposed the bills as a “waste of our time.”
During the current session, Democrats were hopeful for a bipartisan compromise on legislation they had introduced for years allowing undocumented people to get driver licenses. However, House Speaker Jason Wentworth (R-Farwell) canceled a hearing in September 2021 and the issue has been stalled, despite some GOP support.
Last month, a state House resolution celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month became an unexpected flashpoint before the Nov. 8 election when the GOP majority initially decided to table it.
State Rep. Mary Cavanagh | House Democrats photo
Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, was enacted into law in 1988. It is a way to promote the history, culture and contributions of Latino Americans — specifically, those whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Communities mark the achievements of Hispanic and Latino Americans with festivals and educational activities.
HR 338 was introduced by Cavanagh, declaring Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, 2022, as Hispanic Heritage Month in Michigan. It’s a resolution that’s been approved many times before with no controversy, but Republicans did not allow a vote on it, as well as resolutions celebrating the deaf and Maltese-American communities.
Cavanagh said the resolution had been approved in 2021 and 11 other times over the last 20 years.
“What should be a bipartisan, noncontroversial commemorative resolution has fallen victim to the GOP majority’s continued refusal to work with House Democrats — work that is necessary, so together we can all advocate for the people of Michigan,” said Cavanagh on Sept. 26.
The resolution was later approved and GOP leadership never offered an explanation for the delay.
Cavanagh told the Advance afterward that “the culture and contributions of Hispanic and Latinx Michiganders are deserving of this celebratory resolution and never should have been the subject of partisan division. … We will not let this political stunt overshadow the nationwide celebrations of Hispanic and Latinx communities.”
With many Democratic Latinx lawmakers and a Michigan Democratic Party Hispanic/Latino Caucus that helps to shape resolutions, Chair Lavora Barnes told the Advance she is proud of her party’s outreach to Michiganders of color, including the Latino community.
“Michigan is an incredibly diverse state and we have Black, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander, Arab and Chaldean voters in all 83 counties. The MDP works every cycle to increase the diversity of voter turnout all over the state. Often voters in these communities are targeted with disinformation meant to keep them away from the polls on election day. Because of this we have a robust voter protection team that includes a voter protection hotline with support offered in English, Spanish, Arabic, and additional support for the Native American communities.”
Barnes noted the party has a voter protection hotline, 1-833-MI-Votes.
She added that Democrats should “meet voters where they are, whether on their porch, in their mailbox, on the phone or at a community meeting or a forum.”
“The best engagement is to have the opportunity to be able to hear the voter’s concerns and issues and have a dialogue based on those specific concerns,” said Barnes. “The MDP has invested in an infrastructure that allows our organizers and our candidates to have those discussions in communities across the state.”
In early May, the inaugural board members of MI Poder, Michigan’s first Latinx-led statewide 501(c)4 organization, elected officers and began its work.
Board members represent Latinx communities across the state in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Battle Creek, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Holland, Kalamazoo and Pontiac.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
“Our families came to Michigan from all over Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean,” said Angela Reyes, board chair, who serves as the president of the Detroit-based Hispanic Development Corp. “They sacrificed everything so we could experience greater opportunity in this country. Some came generations ago, and some came last week, but always searching for a better life for our families.”
Reyes said that the organization’s name reflects its goals.
“The Spanish word ‘poder’ means ‘power’ in English. With MI Poder, we are building our collective power to ensure that the Latinx perspective is prominent in the policies and elections in Michigan,” Reyes said. “Together, we are moving forward toward a future with policies that allow everyone who lives here to work, participate in our society, and thrive.”
With goals to advance the civic engagement and participation of Michigan’s Latinx community, MI Poder founding board of directors also includes Evelyn Esparza-Gonzalez, of the Hispanic Center of West Michigan in Grand Rapids.
The group made its first endorsements this year in statewide, congressional and legislative races. Loida Tapia, state director of MI Poder, said in a statement that the organization picked candidates who will “increase access to healthcare, reshape the justice system, protect voting rights and immigrant rights and fight for environmental justice.”
“Our local elections are more important than ever. We must elect people who create and pass state policies that improve our lives,” Tapia said.
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authored by Ken Coleman
First published at https%3A%2F%2Fmichiganadvance.com%2F2022%2F10%2F31%2Fgrowing-latino-community-looks-to-increase-vote-share-political-power-in-michigan%2F
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