A Chat With Utah State Senate Minority Leader Ross Romero

News Taco had the opportunity to interview State Senate Minority Leader Ross Romero – D, of Utah earlier this year. Romero arrived to politicos after 10 years of practicing law, three of working in banking, and volunteering in his community. Eight years ago he ran for the state house, won, and when a senate seat opened up, was encouraged by colleagues to pursue the opportunity. Luckily for him, Romero says his “secret weapon” proved to be very effective: that he and his family were entrenched in this mostly affluent, white district. His mother taught in the district as a school teacher for 30 years, he attended school at the University of Utah and generally formed a part of that community.

He also just recently announced he’d be running for mayor of Salt Lake County.

What follows is a transcript of our interview at the NALEO conference, as well as a few of the questions we asked him. Our conversation ranged from what life is like for Latinos in Utah and what types of Latinos make up that state’s population, Utah’s stance on immigration, and the future of Latinos in Utah.

NT: What’s it like being Latino in Utah?

RR: Growing up in Utah I would say wasn’t significantly different than anywhere else. What I will say is that I’m a Catholic, Hispanic Democrat — not the traditional Utahan. But it also meant that I had a parish and so I had a religious community that was looking after me. I had an educational community that was looking after me and I also grew up there. So I knew how to navigate Utah’s communities.

My wife came from Michigan, and for her it was a little harder; she didn’t know anybody, she didn’t have the high school experiences, or the connections or family. So it can be difficult coming from outside — but that can be true of any comm.

NT: What kinds of Latinos form Utah’s community?

RR: There are five Latinos that serve in the Utah state legislature. So I think that’s an indication that clearly we’re doing even better than some other states. We also have some Latinos on some city councils; mostly they are Mexican-American [and] they are coming from California. We also have a fairly good relationship with the refugee community because Salt Lake City and County are big receivers of refugees because of the LDS Church’s outreach efforts. A lot of people have come through the refugee channels, so we have a fair amount of diversity.

NT: How is it that Latinos are thriving politically in Utah?

RR: I would suggest that it’s also a community that kind of looks after each other, partly because it’s small, maybe. The Latina who serves with me in the senate is someone that I and my wife knew for a number of years before she became a candidate. So, when she became a candidate, she called on us and we helped her So I think people [are] involved in the community.

And I will say none of the members in the Utah legislature are from minority majority districts — none of them. My district is 90, 95% caucasian. It is not the Latino community that elected me. My colleague in the senate is [from a district that’s] maybe 40% Latino, but still not majority minority, so it’s a matter of being involved in the community, and in some respects, identifying with a religion I think is important, and then just being engaged.

My district is very affluent and very educated, so it certainly helped me when I ran that I’m a lawyer, my wife’s a lawyer. That I went to the University of Utah, which is in the district. I think my profession matched the district, my university experience matched the district. For one of my runs my opponent had gone to BYU [Brigham Young University], which is of course the rival of the University of Utah, so I made the point of highlighting the fact that I went to the University of Utah and he went to BYU.

NT: What about Latino immigration to Utah?

RR: I would also say we’ve experienced a lot of in migration, particularly from the Latino communities because our economy has done so well and so they have come for jobs. They have decided to stay because it is a community that they find welcoming and inclusive. So we have had tremendous growth, particularly in the Hispanic community,  so there are places to engage in community events, religious communities, plenty of restaurants and cultural experiences that you would find in every major city and every major community.

NT: Why has Utah taken such a different, less harsh immigration stance than other states?

RR: I think a lot of it is church-related and it isn’t just the LDS church. Catholic Bishop John Charles Wester was the national spokesperson for immigrants’ rights, so obviously his voice in our community really amplified the conversation. The other churches in our community also participate, including in a very significant way, really recently the LDS church, where they have tried to remind the community that their mission is serving individuals, not the laws. They are stressing that you need to be in good standing with the law, but they also understand that there is a human component and dividing families really affects the human component and that’s really against the church’s views of things.

NT: What do you see as the future of Latinos in Utah?

RR: I think political representation will probably grow. Across the U.S. with growing numbers of Latinos, and political engagement, increasing graduation rates, university rates, civic participation will increase, more Latinos engaged in public policy and public service — it will simply be a reflection of the community which is coming.

I think it’s just quite natural that if there are more Latinos, there will be more Latino firefighters, more Latino police officers, more elected officials and I think that’s probably good because that will be reflective of the community’s interest. I don’t think that it’s a bad thing for Latinos to be engaged politically in this discussion; sometimes there may be tension between the legacy communities and maybe the newer communities and I think we need to try be careful that there’s integration of everyone’s ideas. Because if it comes across too strong, then that’s when you get the pushback, and I think that’s some of what’s going on now.

But making sure everyone understands that this is really just about a voice at the table and inclusion in the discussion, I think you’re going to get better bills, you’re going to get better policy, you’re going to get more bite from all communities.