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¡Punto Final!

Latinas and the 2006 Elections

Congressional midterm elections, those held in the years when presidential elections are not, usually are pretty quiet affairs with very little fanfare. But this year is different, with extra attention paid to a number of issues, including immigration, and the impact they would have on the success or failure of congressional candidates.

This year, Latinas have a very good chance of adding to their numbers in the U.S. Congress, with New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid running as a Democrat a solid campaign against Republican incumbent Congresswoman Heather Wilson, who has been in Congress since 1999. Wilson has faced Hispanic opponents in the past, but this is the first time the legislator has such tough competition. Madrid, the first female district court judge in New Mexico and the first state attorney general, is in a tight race labeled “too close to call.”

If elected, Madrid would be the first Latina ever to represent the state in Congress. Additionally, New Mexico has not had a Hispanic federal legislator at all since now-Governor Bill Richardson left to join the then-Clinton administration. “To do this, you have to be strong,” Madrid says.

“Women, especially Latinas, are very concerned with people liking them, and what you look like, and that you’re popular and you please people. In politics, you have to learn to be tougher than that. I learned that early on.”

Analysts say that it is significant that Madrid, who has never run for office, is giving a three-term incumbent a campaign battle. “One of the hardest races to do is against someone who has already been in office, but Madrid has managed to do that,” said Magdaleno Manzánarez, a professor of political science at Western New Mexico University.

The political website Daily Kos says Madrid “may have been the single best recruitment coup for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this year.” The DCCC works to elect Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives, and is among those who are pumping large amounts of money into the Madrid-Wilson race.

DCCC expenditures just on that race include $2.1 million for ads targeting Wilson.

Another organization, the left-leaning Moveon.org, sponsored a series of ads on the sides of bus lines that ran along the Washington congressional and lobbying corridor, attacking several members of Congress, including Wilson, for their support of President Bush. Madrid reveals that she focuses not only on her ties to the state as the top law enforcement official and native New Mexican (which Wilson is not), but on pushing her opponent’s ties to President Bush. “I feel I have a good combination that can appeal to a wide range of voters,” she adds.

Democratic Party officials say they have a “good feeling” about the Madrid candidacy and her possibility of joining the U.S. Congress. “We are confident we will do well and Madrid will be elected,” said Democratic National Committee spokesman Luis Miranda.

Additionally, says Democratic Congresswoman Hilda Solís of California, this year many candidates such as Madrid have successfully broadened their scope to appeal to a wider audience. “Latinas running for elected office have an extraordinary chance of winning because they reflect and understand our community. Unlike candidates in the past these Latinas are talking about more mainstream issues like homeownership, education and health care not just the traditional immigration and civil rights issues,” said Solís. “They are committed to expand opportunity and promoting a new direction for America that puts our country’s best interests first.”

Other legislators, such as Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), have gained prominence with issues that on the surface are not “Latino related” but play a prominent role on the political radar screen. Sánchez recently earned an “A” by Darfurscores.org, a “report card” by the Genocide Intervention Network that “scores” legislators on their efforts to stop the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. The Southern California legislator, a civil rights lawyer by training, received the high marks for her co-sponsorship of the Genocide Accountability Act, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, and a House resolution which calls on the United Nations and other organizations to take action in protecting civilians in the region. Voters pay attention to those kinds of actions, analysts say.

Hispanic Candidates within the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives and running without major party opposition:

Hispanic Candidates in U.S. Senate
Robert Menéndez (D-N.J.), incumbent, running for first full sixth-year term

Hispanic Candidates in the U.S. House of Representatives
All current members are up for re-election and expected to win easily.

Hispanic Candidates Running Without Major Party Opposition
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.)
Rep. Charlie González (D-Texas)
Rep. Hilda Solís (D-Calif.)
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas)

LATINA Style does not guarantee the list is complete or or up to date at the time of publication. The list does not imply endorsement of any of the above candidates.

The Supreme Court recently got involved in race involving another Hispanic candidate, that of Republican Henry Bonilla of Texas. The high court ruled that Bonilla’s district had been unconstitutionally redrawn two years ago to ensure a safer seat for the GOP incumbent by moving 100,000 Hispanics to an adjoining district. The new district was redrawn to bring back more Hispanic voters in Bonilla’s district, including from his old neighborhood. Republicans say they are not worried about being able to keep the seat, even with a Democratic challenge from former Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairman Ciro Rodríguez. “The new district will allow Bonilla to represent his childhood neighborhood and his mother in the next Congress. He has strong roots in the districts,” said Alejandro Burgos, spokesperson for the National Republican Campaign Committee. But what could tip it for the Democrats this year is the Iraq war and the stalemate some say has resulted.

While the Madrid congressional campaign has focused on tying Wilson to the weak poll numbers of President Bush, the Iraq issue plays a prominent role in another race involving a Latino, the battle in New Jersey between Democratic Senator Robert Menéndez and Republican state Senator Tom Kean, Jr. Menéndez, a former member of the House of Representatives, is one of only three Hispanics in the Senate. He was appointed last January by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine to complete the last year of his U.S. Senate term, and has taken advantage of the opposition to the Iraq war that most residents of the state have voiced. According to several polls in the state, when the issue of Iraq is mentioned, Menéndez’s numbers spike.

Menéndez and his opponent, the son of a popular former governor, agree on a number of issues, but part ways on Iraq. Menéndez has said that one of the most important votes of his political career was voting in 2002 against authorizing a war against Iraq. Kean says he would have voted with the president on the issue. Another prominent issue that is expected to play a role in the November elections is immigration. Republicans argue that border security, as part of the President’s focus on the war on terror, is an issue that needed to be taken up before anything else. But immigration reform legislation was allowed to fail this year, largely due, say its supporters, to the Republican majority’s fear that its passage would alienate their far-right conservative base. “The Republicans want to use immigrants as scapegoats to work up their conservative base into a frenzy and blame immigrants for all the bad things that happen in this country,” said Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), chair of the Hispanic Caucus immigration task force. “They can,” Gutiérrez contends, “Because Hispanics do not turn out in the numbers they should.” Nationwide, an average of only 30-40 percent of eligible Latinos go to the polls. “What people need to do is make sure that they go out and vote in November, because that is the only way to get attention around here [in Congress].”

By Patricia Guadalupe