SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The balance of power in our country is up for grabs in less than a month.
Experts say a huge deciding factor in many key races is the Latino vote.
Latinos are overrepresented in battleground states that will sway the Senate majority, particularly in Nevada and Arizona.
They also make up a large share of voters in several tight races that could decide whether Democrats hold onto the House including key races in California’s Central Valley.
California is home to a quarter of all eligible Latino voters in the country.
As this ethnic group gains political influence, community members in Sacramento say politicians and the media have a lot to learn.
“When you look at someone Hispanic, they think, 'He’s Mexican,'" said Gonzalo Gomez of Sacramento. He explained, “Not really. He could be from somewhere else, right? Same things go for Americans, Asians, you know? They got different cultures. I just don’t like when people assume that you’re from somewhere when you’re really not.”
Gomez said he’s tired of being color-coded.
That’s what politicians "get wrong" when campaigning for the so-called Latino vote, Gomez said. Latinos in the U.S. come from all over Latin America, Central America, and Mexico, and along with that, vastly different cultures and life experiences.
In short, they’re not a monolith and shouldn’t be treated that way Gomez said.
“The Latino vote, the Latino population is rapidly becoming the largest ethnic plurality in America,” said Mike Madrid, the co-founder of The Lincoln Project and a republican political consultant who follows Latino and Hispanic voting trends.
He said both republican and democratic parties are still learning about the intricacies within this racial demographic that makes up 34.5 million eligible voters, about 14% of the U.S. electorate in 2022 according to Pew Research.
“The main myth about the Latino vote is that to talk to Latinos, talk about immigration is the way to capture the vote it’s never really been the case,” Madrid said.
Top Issues for many voters he said are the economy and abortion, but a number of campaigns still approach Latino voters with flawed perspectives.
“With abortion, the old stereotype was that this is a catholic community; very pro-life. The truth of the matter is that’s never been accurate,” he said.
While Latino and Hispanic voters are the fastest-growing segments of the blue-collar working class and the largest non-white ethnic group of eligible voters in the country, the demographic had the lowest turnout rate in 2020.
Madrid said they’re the most difficult to reach and mobilize to vote simply because they’re younger.
“When you’re talking about the youth vote, you’re oftentimes talking about the Latino vote,” Madrid explained.
The median age for eligible Latino voters is 39, which is nine years younger than the median age of all voters according to Pew Research. Polls indicate neither party put enough resources into reaching Latino voters.
For Saul Gudino of Sacramento, he said a sense of defeat has kept him from engaging in politics.
There was a time when he joined marches to fight for legal pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
“We tried. We do you know, ‘si se puede’ and everything, but ‘no se puede’ you know? As a Latino, I can say, Mexican, we tried, but nothing happened.”
He admits, after several political defeats for causes he cared about, he stopped engaging and turned to more immediate matters in his life. He said he understands each vote counts, but ultimately he believes lawmakers can’t or won’t make policies that will benefit his community.
