| AN ELECTION WITH A HISPANIC FLAIR |
| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, November 11 2002 |
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| The midterm election in 2002 made history in more than one way. The turnout was higher than anyone could have imagined. There were independent election monitors in 14 states, just like in Third World countries. The traditional loss for the party in the White House did not occur -- on the contrary, Republicans held the House and regained control of the Senate. But it also made history because of the Hispanic presence, both at the polls and on the ballots.
The number of Latino voters increased significantly across the country. The Latino vote was key in allowing George Pataki to maintain the governorship in New York. In New Mexico, it made Bill Richardson the country's first Hispanic governor in more than a decade. Even though an overwhelming majority of Hispanics in Texas voted for businessman Tony Sanchez, there were enough Latino votes to give Rick Perry the opportunity to keep the job President Bush gave him when he left for the White House. Perry did it with a little help from his predecessor, and by following the latest trend in politics: trying to speak Spanish.
Once again in Florida, the Bush brothers prevailed. Jeb Bush, who speaks fluent Spanish and whose wife was born in Mexico, won the expected Cuban-American vote but also garnered almost half of the non-Cuban Hispanic vote. Bush spent a lot of time and money courting the Latino vote, while his opponent, Bill McBride, made the huge mistake of virtually ignoring it. McBride did not spend a penny on Spanish-language media advertising in a state where Hispanics make up almost 12 percent of the electorate. In California, where there are more than 2 million Hispanic voters, Gov. Gray Davis had a tough time winning re-election. Davis lost ground with Latino voters, in part because of his veto of legislation that would have allowed some undocumented immigrants access to driver's licenses.
Gloria Tristani, whose grandfather Dennis Chavez served in the Senate for more than 30 years, lost her bid to become the first Hispanic woman in the U.S. Senate but gave New Mexico's six-term incumbent, Pete Domenici, a good run for his money.
Not only is there a Latino governor in New Mexico, but there are also three more Latinos in the House of Representatives, where the ranks now include two sets of Hispanic brothers and sisters. Florida Republican Mario Diaz-Balart will be joining his brother Lincoln after winning a seat he created through redistricting while in the state legislature. In California, two Hispanic sisters will be traveling together to Washington. Linda Sanchez joins her sister Loretta after easily beating her Republican opponent. In Arizona, Democrat Raul Grijalva will represent District 7 in the nation's capital.
There was a record number of Latino candidates running for state office, and not only in the places where they would be expected to run and win. Among them, the first three Latinos ever elected to Georgia's state legislature. Massachusetts will have its first Hispanic state senator.
Plenty of voters saw the name Sanchez when they went to the polls. Tony Sanchez ran for governor of Texas, and John Sanchez for governor of New Mexico, where Kathy Sanchez was a candidate for lieutenant governor for the Green Party. Stephanie Sanchez ran for a Connecticut congressional seat, while Sergio Sanchez was a candidate for the city council in Salinas, Calif. And let's not forget the Congress-bound Sanchez sisters, Linda and Loretta, also from California.
There are a lot of lessons to be learned from these elections. I am sure that Democratic leaders are taking a crash course on how not to botch an election. But as for Hispanics, they have shown that their political power is growing as much as their political clout. As voters, they are powerful enough to decide an election, and as candidates, they're sophisticated enough to be elected to the highest levels of government, even with a last name like Sanchez. |
