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By Elise Foley, Huffington Post Latino Voices

WASHINGTON — Hispanic vote strategists from both parties agreed on Tuesday that the Latino vote could have a major impact even in unexpected place: Ohio, increasingly considered the key state to an electoral victory.

Still, if Latinos want to have a bigger influence in the state, it would help if there were more of them there, Republican strategist Ana Navarro said at a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials event.

“If we want immigration done, some of us are going to have to bite the bullet and move to Ohio,” the Florida resident, who supports immigration reform, said to laughs from the crowd. “Get big winter coats and just make the sacrifice for the cause.”

NALEO released a report on Tuesday detailing its predictions for the Latino vote and Latino representation in politics, exactly two weeks before the 2012 elections take place. Its executive director, Arturo Vargas, told reporters they expect a record Latino turnout of 12.2 million nationwide, and an increase in Latinos in Congress.

In Ohio, Latinos make up only 3.2 percent of the population. But they still could influence the results, Vargas said.

“Although Ohio may not be a Latino-rich state, a state with two, three percent of the electorate that’s Latino could, in fact, make a difference in a state that’s evenly divided,” he said.

States with larger Latino populations will also prove important, Vargas pointed out, specifically Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

No one at the event denied President Barack Obama is winning with Latinos, and that Democratic candidates are also leading among Latinos in general. That doesn’t mean Democrats can rest on their laurels, however — and neither they nor Republicans are doing so. The other panelist, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, said she thinks Obama may be able to take Florida, where both he and GOP nominee Mitt Romney have put in significant resources to win the Latino vote.

“In Florida specifically, if President Obama…

READ MORE HERE 

This article was first published in Huffington Post Latino Voices.

[Photo by jasleen_kaur]

By Ed Gonzalez, Mayor Pro-Tem, City of Houston, TX

President Barack Obama’s address at NALEO’s Annual Conference today presented a stark contrast to Mitt Romney’s subdued remarks. POTUS succeeded where Romney failed and the reason was clear – President Obama had the ability to empathize with our community. In what resembled a campaign rally, his speech focused on family and how the policies that our government sets forth can affect them.

When POTUS discussed the DREAM Act, one simple remark said it best – “it is the right thing to do.” He shared that when he thought of DREAMers, he thought of himself and of his daughters. He shared the importance of protecting the children who came to this country without documentation through no fault of their own. His message was that these children are in a nation where anything is possible and we should embrace and nurture them, not send them away to a culture they did not grow up in. Only in America, is a story like Barack Obama’s even imaginable – and he was able to connect with the crowd in a personal and meaningful way because of it. The President’s commitment to the DREAM Act was evident when he once more reiterated that as soon as Congress puts a bill on his desk, it will be signed.

The President also discussed access to affordable healthcare for all and it resonated with the audience. It is an unfortunate fact that Latinos represent the largest uninsured group in the United States. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act though, an important step has been taken towards correcting the problem and ensuring all of our families have access to care. President Obama’s leadership on the issue has been noticed and is appreciated by our community.

The address by President Barack Obama today re-energized some in the audience who had been weary, converted some skeptics, and fired up his many supporters within the crowd. His continued commitment to the Latino community will be key to his re-election success. I appreciated his sincerity, his personalized approach to addressing us, and his clear ability to understand the issues and concerns that are important to Latinos.

I am fired up, ready to go!

Mayor Pro-Tem Ed Gonzalez was first elected to serve on Houston City Council in 2009.

[Photo by NALEO]

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_____________________________

For Immediate Release

June 22, 2012

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

AT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

LATINO ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Walt Disney World Resort

Orlando, Florida

1:43 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Gracias!  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Thank you.  Everybody please have a seat.  Ah, it is good to be back at NALEO.  Qué placer estar aquí con tantos amigos.  (Applause.)  It is wonderful to see a lot of good friends from all across the country.  It is nice to be at Disney World.  This is now the second time I’ve come to Disney World without my daughters.  They are not happy with me.  (Laughter.)

I want to thank Secretary Solis for the introduction, and for her hard work.  She is one of the best Labor Secretaries we have ever had and she is thinking about you each and every day.  (Applause.)  I want to thank Sylvia and Arturo for their outstanding leadership.  Arturo, happy early birthday.  (Applause.)  I will not sing — don’t worry.  (Laughter.)  Welcome to the other side of the hill.  (Laughter.)

And it is especially good to have Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte here with us.  We are very proud of her.  (Applause.)  When the Senate refused to confirm Mari, I sent her to El Salvador anyway — (laughter) — because I knew she was going to do an outstanding job.  And she has.  And I’m glad to see the Senate finally confirmed her last week.  So she’s now official.  (Applause.)

Last but not least, I want to thank all of you.  It’s always nice to get out of Washington.  It’s nice to get a little Florida sunshine.  But it’s especially nice to see folks who have devoted themselves to serving their communities and their country — who’ve dedicated themselves to making people’s lives just a little bit better each and every day, at every level — school board, state legislatures, county boards.  You guys are where the rubber hits the road.  And I’ve had a chance to see many of you in your local communities and hear the stories of all your efforts and all your hopes and all your dreams — and also some of your frustrations and the hardships that are taking place.

Yesterday, your featured speaker came here and said that the election in November isn’t about two people.  It’s not about being a Republican or a Democrat or an independent.  It is about the future of America.  And while we’ve got a lot of differences, he and I, on this point I could not agree more.  This is about America’s future.  The defining issue of our time is whether we carry forward the promise that has drawn generations of immigrants to our shores, from every corner of the globe, sometimes at great risk — men and women drawn by the promise that no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter what your last name, this is a place where you can make it if you try.  This is a place where you can make it if you try.

And whether our ancestors arrived on the Mayflower or were brought here on slave ships, whether they signed in at Ellis Island or they crossed the Rio Grande, their diversity has not only enriched this country, it helped build the greatest economic engine the world has ever known.

Hungry people, striving people, dreamers, risk-takers.  People don’t come here looking for handouts.  We are a nation of strivers and climbers and entrepreneurs — the hardest-working people on Earth.  And nobody personifies these American values, these American traits, more than the Latino community.  That’s the essence of who you are.  (Applause.)

All we ask for is that hard work pays off, that responsibility is rewarded, so that if these men and women put in enough effort, they can find a good job, own their own home, send their kids to college — let their kids dream even bigger  — put away a little bit for retirement, not go bankrupt when you get sick.

And I ran for this office because for more than a decade, that dream had been slipping away from too many Americans.  Before I even took office, the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes pushed it even further from reach — particularly for a lot of Latino communities, which had already faced higher unemployment and higher poverty rates.

So the question is not whether we need to do better.  Of course the economy isn’t where it needs to be.  Of course there’s still too many who struggle.  We’ve got so much more work to do.  But the question is:  How do we make the economy grow faster?  How do we create more jobs?  How do we create more opportunity?  The question is:  What vision are we going to stand up for?  Who are we going to fight for?

That’s what we have to decide right now.  That’s what this election is about.  Who are we fighting for?  What vision of America do we believe in?

If America is about anything, it’s about passing on even greater opportunity to our children.  It’s about education.  And that’s why I expanded Pell Grants — which will give an additional 150,000 children in the Latino community a chance to go to college.  (Applause.)  That’s why I’ve invested in our community colleges, which are a gateway to a good job for so many Hispanic Americans — Americans of every stripe.  (Applause.)

That’s why schools in almost every state — some in the toughest neighborhoods around — have answered our challenge to raise their standards for teaching and learning — not by teaching to a test, but by expanding creativity, and improving curriculums, and focusing more on kids who are hardest to reach so that we give every child a fighting chance.  That’s part of the vision of America that we believe in.

In this country, we believe that if you want to take a risk on a new idea, you should have the chance to succeed.  And you shouldn’t have to have wealthy parents in order to be successful.  Latino-owned businesses have been the fastest-growing small businesses, and we’ve cut their taxes 18 times.  (Applause.)  We’ve expanded new loans and new credit so they can grow and they can hire.  That’s the vision we believe in.

In America, we believe you shouldn’t go broke because you get sick.  Hardworking people out there — sometimes two jobs, three jobs — still don’t have health insurance.  If you did have health insurance, insurance companies were able to discriminate against certain patients.  That was wrong.  It was wrong to let insurance companies just jack up premiums for no reason, and to have millions of working Americans uninsured –  with the Latino community having the highest rate of uninsured of any community in the country.

So after a century of trying, we finally passed reform that will make health care affordable and available for every American.  (Applause.)  That was the right thing to do.  That was the right thing to do.  That was the right thing to do.  (Applause.)

Now, we’re not done yet.  We’ve got more to do.  We need to put more good teachers in our classrooms.  (Applause.)  We need to get colleges and universities to bring down the cost of tuition to make it more affordable for more young people.  (Applause.)

We need to invest in new research and innovation — especially new sources of energy and high-tech manufacturing.  We need to put people back to work rebuilding our roads and our highways and our runways.  Construction jobs can have a huge ripple effect in communities all across the country.  And nobody knows it better than state and local officials.  You know the difference it makes.  And with the housing bubble bursting, we’ve got tens of thousands of construction workers just ready and eager to get to work.

We need to give families in hard-hit housing markets like Florida and Nevada the chance to refinance and save $3,000 a year on their mortgage.  That’s good for those families.  It’s good for the housing market.  It’s good for the surrounding community.  There’s no reason why Congress hasn’t already done it.  (Applause.)

Instead of just talking a big game about “job creators,” we should give small business owners a tax break for hiring more workers or for paying higher wages.  Instead of rewarding companies that ship jobs overseas, we should take that money and use it to cover moving expenses for companies who are bringing jobs back to America.  (Applause.)

On almost every issue of concern to your community, to every community, what’s holding us back isn’t a lack of big ideas.  It’s not a lack of technical solutions.  By now, just about every policy and proposal has been laid out on the table.  What’s holding us back is a stalemate — a stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different views of which direction we should go.

The Republicans who run Congress, the man at the top of their ticket, they don’t agree with any of the proposals I just talked about.  They believe the best way to grow the economy is from the top down.  So they want to roll back regulations, and give insurance companies and credit card companies and mortgage lenders even more power to do as they please.  They want to spend $5 trillion on new tax cuts — including a 25-percent tax cut for every millionaire in the country.  And they want to pay for it by raising middle-class taxes and gutting middle-class priorities like education and training and health care and medical research.

And that’s it.  That’s it.  That’s their economic plan.  When they tell you they can do better, that’s their idea of doing better.  When they tell you they know how to fix the economy, that’s exactly how they plan to do it.  And I think they’re wrong.  I think they’re wrong.  (Applause.)

In this country, prosperity has never come from the top down — it comes from a strong and growing middle class, and creating ladders of opportunity for all those who are striving to get into the middle class.  It comes from successful, thriving small businesses that over time grow into medium-size and then large businesses.

We don’t need more top-down economics.  What we need is a better plan for education and training, and energy independence, and innovation, and infrastructure that can rebuild America.  What we need is a tax code that encourages companies to create jobs and manufacturing here in the United States, and, yes, asks the wealthiest Americans to help pay down the deficit.  (Applause.)  That’s what’s needed.  (Applause.)

And what’s also needed is immigration reform that finally lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and as a nation of immigrants, and continues the American story of renewal and energy and dynamism that’s made us who we are.  (Applause.)

I mean, think about it.  You and I both know one of America’s greatest strengths has always been our ability to attract talented, hardworking people who believe in this country, who want to help make it stronger.  That’s what keeps us young.  That’s what keeps us dynamic and energized.  That’s what makes us who we are.

But our current immigration system doesn’t reflect those values.  It allows the best and brightest to study here, but then tells them to leave, start companies somewhere else.  It punishes immigrants and businesses who play by the rules, and fails to address the fact that there are too many who don’t.  It separates families and it denies innocent young people the chance to earn an education or serve in the uniform of the country they love.

Now, once again, the problem is not the lack of technical solutions.  We know what the solutions are to this challenge.  Just six years ago, an unlikely trio — John McCain, Ted Kennedy, President Bush — came together to champion comprehensive immigration reform.  (Applause.)  I, along with a lot of Democrats, were proud to join 23 Senate Republicans in voting for it.  Today, those same Republicans have been driven away from the table by a small faction of their own party.  It’s created the same kind of stalemate on immigration reform that we’re seeing on a whole range of other economic issues.  And it has given rise to a patchwork of state laws that cause more problems than they solve and are often doing more harm than good.  (Applause.)

Now, this makes no sense.  It’s not good for America.  And as long as I am President of the United States, I will not give up the fight to change it.

In the face of a Congress that refuses to do anything on immigration, I’ve said that I’ll take action wherever I can.  So my administration has been doing what we can, without the help in Congress, for more than three years now.  And last week, we took another step.  On Friday, we announced that we’re lifting the shadow of deportation from deserving young people who were brought to this country as children.  (Applause.)

We should have passed the DREAM Act a long time ago.  It was written by members of both parties.  When it came up for a vote a year and a half ago, Republicans in Congress blocked it.  The bill hadn’t changed.  The need hadn’t changed.  The only thing that had changed was politics.  (Applause.)  The need had not changed.  The bill hadn’t changed — written with Republicans.  The only thing that had changed was politics.  And I refused to keep looking young people in the eye, deserving young people in the eye, and tell them, tough luck, the politics is too hard.

I’ve met these young people all across the country.  They’re studying in our schools.  They’re playing with our children, pledging allegiance to our flag, hoping to serve our country.  They are Americans in their hearts, in their minds. They are Americans through and through — in every single way but on paper.  And all they want is to go to college and give back to the country they love.  (Applause.)  So lifting the shadow of deportation and giving them a reason to hope — that was the right thing to do.  It was the right thing to do.  (Applause.)

It’s not amnesty.  It falls short of where we need to be –a path to citizenship.  It’s not a permanent fix.  This is a temporary measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while offering some justice to these young people.  But it’s precisely because it’s temporary, Congress still needs to come up with a long-term immigration solution — rather than argue that we did this the wrong way or for the wrong reasons.

So to those who are saying Congress should be the one to fix this — absolutely.  For those who say we should do this in a bipartisan fashion — absolutely.  My door has been open for three and a half years.  They know where to find me.  (Laughter.)

I’ve said time and again:  Send me the DREAM Act; I will sign it right away.  (Applause.)  And I’m still willing to work with anyone from either party who is committed to real reform.  But in the meantime, the question we should consider is this:  Was providing these young people with the opportunity for a temporary measure of relief the right thing to do?

AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  Yes!

THE PRESIDENT:  I think it was.  It’s long past time that we gave them a sense of hope.

Your speaker from yesterday has a different view.  In his speech, he said that when he makes a promise to you, he’ll keep it.  Well, he has promised to veto the DREAM Act, and we should take him at his word.  (Applause.)  I’m just saying.  (Laughter and applause.)

And I believe that would be a tragic mistake.  You do, too.

On all these issues — on the investments we need to grow the middle class and leave a better future for our kids, on deficit reduction that’s fair and balanced, on immigration reform, on consumer financial protection so that people aren’t exploited, whether at a payday loan shop or if they’re sending remittances back to their families — on all these issues, Washington has a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the country.

The whole idea behind the DREAM Act, after all, was inspired by a music teacher in Illinois.  She decided to call her Senator, Dick Durbin, when she discovered that one of her own students was forced to live in the shadows.  But even as that idea fell prey to gridlock and game-playing in Washington, it gained momentum in the rest of the country:  From every student who marched and organized to keep their classmates from being deported; from every parent who discovered the truth about the child down the street and chose to stand up for them — because these are all our kids; from every American who stood up and spoke out across the country because they saw a wrong and wanted it to be righted; who put their shoulder to the wheel and moved us a little closer towards justice.

That’s what has always moved us forward.  It doesn’t start in Washington.  It starts with a million quiet heroes who love their country and believe they can change it.

We all have different backgrounds.  We all have different political beliefs.  The Latino community is not monolithic; the African American community is not all of one mind.  This is a big country.  And sometimes, in tough times, in a country this big and busy, especially during a political year, those differences are cast in a bright spotlight.

But I ran for this office because I am absolutely convinced that what binds us together has always proven stronger than what drives us apart.  We are one people.  We need one another.  (Applause.)  Our patriotism is rooted not in race, not in ethnicity, not in creed; it is based on a shared belief in the enduring and permanent promise of America.

That’s the promise that draws so many talented, driven people to these shores.  That’s the promise that drew my own father here.  That’s the promise that drew your parents or grandparents or great grandparents — generations of people who dreamed of a place where knowledge and opportunity were available to anybody who was willing to work for it, anybody who was willing to seize it.  A place where there was no limit to how far you could go, how high you could climb.

They took a chance.  And America embraced their drive and embraced their courage — said, “Come, you’re welcome.”  This is who we are.

Every single day I walk into the Oval Office, every day that I have this extraordinary privilege of being your President, I will always remember that in no other nation on Earth could my story even be possible.  (Applause.)  That’s something I celebrate.

That’s what drives me, in every decision I make, to try and widen the circle of opportunity, to fight for that big and generous and optimistic country we inherited, to carry that dream forward for generations to come.  Because when I meet these young people, all throughout communities, I see myself.  Who knows what they might achieve.  I see my daughters and my nieces and my nephews.  Who knows what they might achieve if we just give them a chance?

That’s what I’m fighting for.  That’s what I stand for.

This fight will not always be easy.  It hasn’t always been easy.  It will not happen overnight.  Our history has been one where that march towards justice and freedom and equality has taken time.  There will always be plenty of stubborn opposition in the way that says: “No, you can’t.” “No, you shouldn’t.”  “Don’t even try.”

But America was built by people who said something different — who said:  “Yes, we can.”  Who said, “Sí, se puede.”  (Applause.)  And as long as I have the privilege of being your President, I will be alongside you, fighting for the country that we together dream of.  (Applause.)

God bless you.  Thank you, NALEO.  (Applause.)  God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END                2:11 P.M. EDT

By Elaine de Valle, Voxxi

While President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney headline the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officers conference in Orlando this week, there is another star of the event: The Latino vote.

“Latinos Decide” is the theme of NALEO’s 29^th annual conference, dubbed the “Latino political convention” and it was an underscored much of the summit’s first day — as it is expected to on Friday, when Obama is scheduled to address the participants.

The conference opened exactly 138 days before the critical November election and the Hispanic leaders present are all talking about ways to mobilize the Latino vote, which NALEO has projected will be around 12 million by election day.

“We have a lot to do in a little amount of time,” said Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, fellow at Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, who spoke at a plenary session entitled, “Latinos and the Road to Impact on Election 2012.”

“With any roadmap you take, you pull out your map,” Soto said.

And that’s exactly what the NALEO conference is supposed to provide: a map and fuel for the ride to November’s final destination: “A Latin voice at every level — at the state level, at the federal level and at the policy level,” Soto said.

“We will face a number of roadblocks,” she added.

Soto; NALEO Executive Director Arturo Vargas; voting rights lawyer Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Eliseo Medina, secretary treasurer for the Service Employees International Union; and University of Washington Professor Matt Barreto, co-principal of Latino Decisions, each spoke about voter suppressionefforts – whether they are photo ID requirements, hindrances to new registrations or questionable voter roll purges.

“Our current leaders see no profit with registering people to vote,” said Perales, who is in court next week fighting the Texas voter ID law — perhaps the nation’s strictest — where student identification will not grant you a vote but a concealed weapons permit will.

And there are efforts around the country to break through these roadblocks.

“We all know we have the numbers, that we have the potential to decide who gets elected president, dog catcher and everything in between, that with our vote, we have the power to change the course of America,” Medina said, adding that only through Latino voting power can measures like the anti-immigrant Arizona SB1070 be stopped.

“We are no longer a sleeping giant. We are awake. And we are getting cranky,” Medina added.

But he told the more than 200 people gathered at the breakfast roundtable that Hispanics have to make sure they don’t squander their strength.

“The most important thing is that power not used is power lost,” Medina later told VOXXI. “We have to turn out on Nov. 6.”

Some have questioned whether that 12 million strong Latino vote will materialize in less than five months, based on a less-than-great showing in the Texas and California primaries.

“I don’t know what the forumula is,” said Orlando City Commissioner Tony Ortiz, who helped introduce Romney on Thursday.

“In our countries, and I can speak about Puerto Rico, voting is the sport of the day. People come out and vote and people are passionate about this,” Ortiz told VOXXI. “We need that same passion here, from the whole Latino community.”

But NALEO’s Vargas said that momentum is beginning to swell now and that 2012 was a very different year from 2008.

“In 2008, there were Deomocratic primaries that were really mobilizing Latino voters. Sen. [Hillary] Clinton and Sen. Obama at the time were doing all they could to reach Latino voters,” Vargas told VOXXI.  “There was no such type of campaign in the Democratic primaries in 2012 and in the Republican primary, it was really the Florida electorate that got most of the attention.

“But now we are entering a new phase, when both candidates in the general, both President Obama and Gov. Romney are now turning their attention to the Latino electorate, which is one reason why they are with us here at this conference,” Vargas said.

Florida Sen. Rene Garcia, the Republican chairman of the state’s Hispanic Legislative Caucus, agreed.

“The Hispanic vote is going to be very important not only in Florida but across the country,” Garcia told VOXXI. “It’s very evident with the fact that you have both party candidates speaking here.”

This article first appeared in Voxxi.

Ealine De Valle spent 18 years as a staff writer for The Miami Herald, where she was part of two Pulitzer-Prize winning teams, one in 1993 for coverage of Hurricane Andrew’s aftermath and one in 1999 for an investigative series on voter fraud that overturned the 1997 Miami election. She has covered everything from presidential elections to local crime and business trends. She also won a South Florida regional Emmy in 2011 for a segment on absentee ballots irregularities in the Miami-Dade mayoral campaign.

[Photo by NALEO]

By Elaine de Valle, Voxxi

The next U.S. President – no matter who gets elected in November – will speak to hundreds ofHispanic elected leaders this week.

For the first time in its history, participants of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials annual conference in Orlando will hear from both the sitting U.S. President and the challenger.

Presumed Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney throws the first salvo today, and his camp has hinted at some kind of immigration talk on the heels of the policy change announced last week by President Barack Obama, who speaks Friday.

More than 1,000 people are participating in the 29th annual NALEO conference, which has been abuzz with the news last week that the president had halted the deportation of about 800,000 young immigrants who came here as children.

Naturally, everyone expects immigration policy – which was already a hot button issue before last week’s announcement – to take center stage during the powwow, which is called the “Latino political convention.”

A statement issued by NALEO last week, which is seemingly supportive of the administration’s sudden change,  said “We look forward to hearing more about this policy change when the President directly addresses our membership. Our nation’s more than 6,000 Latino elected officials are ready to do their part… to promote policies and legislation that will ultimately make the American dream a reality for those young individuals who are making contributions to the prosperity and fabric of this great nation.”

And since Obama comes to the organization bearing a new, shiny, gift-wrapped present, there is speculation that Romney will touch on the important matter with the influential Hispanic leaders, too. His campaign has leaked that Romney will give “more details” that could expand on his stance. He more likely will use the opportunity to criticize Obama for what he and other Republicans have characterized as a political chess move.

Spanish-language ads the Romney campaign released this week, however, continue to try to shift the attention from immigration reform and to the economy. And U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart told VOXXI that Romney would likely stick to that subject during the conference speech.

“That’s what people care about, jobs and economic recovery,” Diaz-Balart said. “I suspect Gov. Romney will stick to talking about the economy because that’s what we want to hear.”

There are some immigration panel discussions and sessions planned for the three-day conference. One today counts with the participation of Texas State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer. But other topics — notably Latino leadership, education, healthcare and the use of social media in politics — will ignite debates and conversations as well.

The highly-anticipated Latino vote, a campaign darling of 2012 projected to break records with more than 12 million Hispanics casting, will likely be sub-context if not an outright talking point in everything. According to national surveys, Obama has maintained a strong lead of more than 2 to 1 among Latino voters, who will carry special weight in swing states like Florida — where there are more than 1.4 million Hispanics registered — as well as Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.

Florida Sen. Rene Garcia (R-FL) will open the conference at this morning’s breakfasts with his enthusiasm for the potentially pivotal role Hispanics will play in November. “Regardless of where they go, Hispanics are going to be the decision makers,” Garcia told VOXXI earlier this month. “The numbers we are growing. We’re not leaving and people have to give us respect and not take us for granted.”

That could include the two presidential hopefuls that are speaking on separate days this week. Echoing other politicians and political observers, Garcia said he hoped that both Romney and Obama will have more to say and would leave the typical type-cast “multicultural messages” at home when they direct themselves to the group of mostly Latino legislators — ranging from municipal elected officers from cities like Houston and Los Angeles to Congressional members and everything in between — who don’t want to hear the same ol’, same ol’.

“They don’t get it. They just don’t get it,” Garcia said. “And I’m not saying that as a legislator or as a Republican. I’m saying that as a Hispanic.”

This article first appeared in Voxxi.

Ealine De Valle spent 18 years as a staff writer for The Miami Herald, where she was part of two Pulitzer-Prize winning teams, one in 1993 for coverage of Hurricane Andrew’s aftermath and one in 1999 for an investigative series on voter fraud that overturned the 1997 Miami election. She has covered everything from presidential elections to local crime and business trends. She also won a South Florida regional Emmy in 2011 for a segment on absentee ballots irregularities in the Miami-Dade mayoral campaign.

[Photo by NALEO]

By NALEO

ELECTION DAY: Tuesday, May 29, 2012
ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES: 38
TOTAL POPULATION (2010): 25,145,561
LATINO POPULATION (2010): 9,460,921
PROJECTED LATINO VOTE IN 2012: 1,987,000
PROJECTED LATINO SHARE OF TEXAS VOTE: 21.3%

In the last three presidential contests, Texans have generally supported the Republican candidate – in 2000 and 2004, the state handed decisive victories to its former governor, George W. Bush, who received 59% and 61% of the vote, respectively. In 2008, U.S. Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) margin of victory was somewhat smaller, when he garnered 55% of the vote. In contrast, exit poll data suggest that Latino partisan preferences in the presidential contests fluctuated significantly between 2004 and 2008. In 2004, these data indicate that the Latino vote was nearly evenly split between Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and President Bush (50% to 49%). In 2008, the gap between the Republican and Democratic candidates appeared much larger, with 63% of Latinos supporting President Obama compared to 35% for Senator McCain.

Latinos played a particularly key role in Texas’ 2008 Democratic presidential primary contest. In 2008, both parties changed their primary schedules, and a large cluster of elections took place near the start of the year. Because many major primaries or nominating caucuses had occurred by February 5 (“Super Duper Tuesday”), some political observers predicted that the presidential nominees for both parties would be determined by that date. However, in a remarkable turn of events, the Democratic race proved so competitive, that the early primaries did not decide it.

With its March 4 election, Texas became a key battleground for the Democratic nominees. Exit poll data suggest that the Latino vote was crucial to the victory of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in Texas, which essentially allowed her to remain a viable candidate in the Democratic primary. Senator Clinton’s margin of victory among all Texas Democrats was relatively narrow. She received 50.9% of the vote compared with then-Senator Obama’s 47.4%. The exit poll data indicate that Texas Latino Democrats favored Senator Clinton over Senator Obama by 66% to 32%. Former President Bill Clinton had called Texas a “must -win,” and the victory for the former First Lady was her first after 11 straight losses to Sen. Obama. After the Texas win, Sen. Clinton said afterward that “this campaign has turned a corner,” and that support from Latino voters was essential to her comeback.

With Latinos now comprising nearly one of every four Texas registered voters (24%), Latino voters are poised to play a key role in this years’ primary and general elections. As noted below, redistricting is providing the Latino community with greater opportunities to obtain fair representation in some parts of the state, and political observers will be watching the results of Congressional and state elections to gauge the impact of the Latino electorate.

Texas’ Latino Population and Redistricting Between 2000 and 2010, Texas’ population grew from 20.9 million to 25.1 million, an increase of 20.6%. During the same period, the Latino population grew from 6.7 million to 9.5 million, an increase of 41.8%.

TEXAS POPULATION GROWTH: 2000-2010
After the 2010 reapportionment, Texas gained four additional Congressional seats, the most of any state. Latinos accounted for nearly two-thirds (65%) of Texas’ growth since 2000, and the Latino population increase was largely responsible for the state’s Congressional gains.

The new Congressional and state legislative maps initially adopted by the Texas state legislature in 2011 became the subject of  protracted litigation, partly because the maps failed to comply with provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) which provides protection against redistrictings that discriminate against the Latino community. Under Section 5 of the VRA, Texas’ maps must receive federal approval before they can go into effect. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) opposed the maps, because the DOJ believed they were enacted with an intentionally discriminatory purpose and failed to reflect the significant Latino growth in the state. In February 2012, a federal court in San Antonio released interim maps that will be used for the 2012 elections. These maps must still receive approval from either the DOJ or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columba before they become the final maps for the decade, and there may be further changes to the interim maps.

The interim Congressional map creates two new districts where Latinos will have a strong opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice (“opportunity districts”). One is Congressional district 33 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and the other is Congressional district 35, which runs from Austin to San Antonio. Some advocates have expressed concerns about the interim House of Representatives map, because they feel it does not create enough new opportunity districts in the state. These advocates believe that the map provides for 34 Latino opportunity districts, but fails to create an additional opportunity district in the Nueces County area.

Sources
NALEO Educational Fund, 2011 National Directory of Latino Elected Officials.
This report uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey (ACS), 1-year estimates, and the 2010 Census Summary File 1. The ACS is conducted every year and is an on-going survey of a sample of the population which produces estimates of various population characteristics. The 2010 Census provides data from the official count of the entire population that is conducted every 10 years. Differences in the two data sources’ universes, reference periods, and the way in which the data are tabulated may affect the comparability of data from the sources.
U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), Voting and Registration in the Elections of November: 2000-2008. The CPS data used in this report and the survey from which they are derived are subject to certain limitations. First, actual voter turnout and registration may be overestimated by the CPS, because individuals may tend to over-report electoral participation.
Additionally, the CPS is a national survey, and estimates derived for smaller sub-groups within the national population may be based on relatively small sample sizes. Consequently, the margin of error associated with estimates of voting and registration for these sub-groups is greater than the margin associated with the national population or larger population sub-groups.
The Latino vote projections were derived by taking the Latino vote in 2008, and increasing it by the average of the perecentage change in the Latino vote for the last three presidential elections. The Latino vote in the last three presidential elections is from Voting and Registration in the Elections of November: 2000-2008. Because these projections are based solely on past voting trends, they are conservative estimates that do not take into account the potential increase in Latino turnout that could result from the growth in Latino naturalizations, more robust voter engagement efforts, or other factors.
2012 NGP Voter Activation Network voter file data, May 2012.

A REPORT OF THE NALEO EDUCATIONAL FUND: The nation’s leading non-profit organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.

PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) announced today that President Barack Obama will address the nation’s Latino leadership at the organization’s 29th Annual Conference on Friday, June 22, in Orlando, Florida.

“We’re pleased that the President of the United States will be joining our nation’s Latino leadership at this historic event,” said Sylvia R. Garcia, NALEO President.  “With the changing demographics and the growing Latino population, this conference is an opportunity for the President to address key elected officials and leaders regarding the Administration’s efforts to address the unique issues and challenges facing the Latino community today.”

The address will occur during a three-day convention of nearly 1,000 Latino public officials working at all levels of government in communities across the nation.  Conference participants will join political and policy leaders for panel discussions on education, health, financial empowerment, broadband adoption and the growing clout of Latino voters in American politics.

“Our Hispanic officials represent millions of Americans across the country,” said Juan C. Zapata, NALEO Educational Fund Chairman.  “With so much at stake this year, the NALEO membership is eager to hear from the President about his priorities and the actions his administration has taken on behalf of Hispanics and all Americans.”

For information about the conference and registration, please visit the NALEO conference website at: http://www.naleo.org/annualconference.

What:
NALEO 29th Annual Conference

Who:
NALEO, the leadership organization of the nation’s more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials.

When:
June 21 – 23, 2012

Friday, June 22
Fantasia Ballroom G and H

1:00 – 2:00 PM
Address by the President of the United States
President Barack H. Obama

Where:
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
4600 North World Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

MEDIA REGISTRATION:

Advance registration is required.  To register, please contact Amanda Bosquez at abosquez@naleo.org or by phone at (202) 546-2536 Ext. 12.

Please be advised that members of the press MUST present credentials (including a photo ID) at the time of registration on-site in order to receive event materials and press passes.

About NALEO
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials is the leadership organization of the nation’s more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials.

Contact: Amanda Bosquez, abosquez@naleo.org
(202) 546-2536, ext. 12

 SOURCE National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)

Source: PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1cqY4)

[Photo By The White House]

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund (link to site) projects that due to an estimated 50,000 Latinos turning 18 each month, 12.2 million Latinos will be voting in the upcoming Presidential election.

“While the Latino vote continues to increase with each Presidential election, much work needs to be done to fully engage Latinos in our country’s electoral process,” said NALEO Executive Director Arturo Vargas. “In 2008, 19.5 million Latinos were eligible to vote, but half did not cast ballots, because they were not registered or did not turn out. The Latino electorate must make faster progress if America’s democracy is to thrive.”

Mr. Vargas believes that the Latino vote will increase 26% from 2008, where 9.7 million votes were casted. According to NALEO, this is due to an estimated 50,000 Latinos turning 18 each month.

At least one out of five voters will be Latino in key states such as California, New Mexico, and Texas.
“Both presidential candidates and political parties must actively work to engage Latino voters and address the issues they care about,” said Mr. Vargas. “This electorate has shown that it cannot be taken for granted by either party. Campaigns must enhance their strategies to reach all Latino voters, both native-born and naturalized. Latinos played a key role in the 2008 election; they will determine who is sworn in on January 20, 2013.”

[Photo By kristin_a]

[Editor's note: The following is a press release from NALEO.]

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) issued the following statement today calling on President Obama to seize the opportunity to address issues critical to the Latino community.

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) calls on President Obama to exercise strong leadership on key issues affecting the second-largest population group in the nation. Given the current challenges facing the nation, including our fiscal crisis, now is the most opportune time for President Obama to fulfill his commitment to the advancement of the Latino community.

Last week, the White House hosted more than 160 leaders from across the country for the Hispanic Policy Conference to engage in discussions with Administration officials on how to work together on policy issues that can move the Latino community forward. Next week, President Obama will address the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) at its Annual Conference, the largest and most important gathering of the nation’s most influential individuals, organizations, institutions, and companies working with the Hispanic community.

We encourage President Obama to embrace the opportunity provided by his attendance at the NCLR Annual Conference to announce meaningful progress on key policy issues of most importance to this segment of the American population.

Among the issues, NALEO urges President Obama to strongly promote and support negotiation and passage of the DREAM Act. The President should also provide a more clear and expeditious process for implementing prosecutorial discretion to defer removal of DREAM Act eligible youth. The memorandum issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on this issue is a step in the right direction, but the Administration must establish a more uniform and transparent process to ensure stronger protections for these hard-working, law-abiding youth. At a time when our nation is engaged in critical discussions about the future of our economy, we can hardly afford to ignore the tremendous talent, contributions, and potential these young “DREAMers” represent for the future vitality of our economy.

We also urge the President to ensure that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) vigorously enforces the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to protect Latinos from discrimination in the electoral process. The DOJ must carefully examine legislation enacted by jurisdictions that affects the ability of Latinos to register to vote and cast ballots (such as unfair restrictive photo identification requirements). It must also rigorously scrutinize the redistricting plans adopted by state legislatures, commissions, and other entities responsible for drawing new district lines. The DOJ should use its full authority to prevent the implementation of any laws, practices or redistricting plans that violate the VRA and jeopardize Latino voting rights.

The President should also continue to address the disproportionate impact of the recession on Latinos and their families. Latino policymakers are on the front lines of addressing these issues on the local and state levels across the country. As such, we ask for strong leadership, and a partnership, from the Administration and Washington in order to move our communities forward.

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials is the leadership organization of the nation’s more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials.

[Photo By dcJohn]

Latino voter turnout is expected to reach record numbers in 2012. That’s according to a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) projection. The estimate is that 12.2 million Latino voters will go to the polls come November of 2012; more than any other election in the past.

It makes sense, given the record growth of Latino population.

NALEO came to the voter turnout conclusion by calculating past turnout increases and projecting them into the next presidential election. So all things being equal and all things remaining the same, it’s a safe call:

There was a point during Texas Governor Rick Perry’s speech to a packed lunch crowd at this year’s National Association of  Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference that I felt something akin to pity. This is the man who’s playing coy with his own party, teasing a run for the presidency. I wanted for him to stop the platitudes, end the lame jokes, say thank you and leave the podium. He didn’t.

He trudged through to the end of his off-the-cuff remarks.

To give him a sliver of a benefit of a doubt, it wasn’t the warmest crowd he could have spoken to. The audience was almost entirely Latino; elected and appointed officials from all levels of government and from all across the country, staffers, advocates, political activists, political junkies and consultants.

They had just listened to San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro deliver a spot-on speech about the contrast between two different Texas’.  He said the state was like a shiny coin you find on the floor; you pick it up and the underside is rotted – Latino education attainment is dismal; bills calling for a ban on sanctuary cities and measures much like Arizona’s SB1070 will disproportionately affect Latinos; voter ID and redistricting plans will  effectively nullify the political effects of the Latino population growth. Castro meticulously enumerated what he saw as the state of the state from a Latino perspective, then he left the podium for Governor Perry, the would be president.

He should have seen it coming.

Perry was greeted at the door of the conference hotel by a group of angry protesters who hold him personally responsible for the anti-Latino tenor of the legislative session.  But the Governor tried to put a good face on it all: he avoided the subjects. He reached into his bag of podium platitudes and strang together a series of awkward lines that may have been well received in another place and at another time. But on this day, in front of this crowd, his words had a hard time competing with the clinking of silverware against lunch plates.

He extolled the greatness of Texas as a state that’s dealing with the weakened economy better than the rest; he talked about how the secret to Texas’ economic success was its people; he invited those present to leave their states and move to Texas; he listed the names of the Latinos that he’s appointed to high office, including the Commissioner of the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Jose Cuevas.  What a perfect name for that position, he joked. I think he may have been alluding to the similarity with Jose Cuervo, of Tequila fame.  The joke tanked.

Perry’s option was to not attend the conference, avoid it altogether.

President Obama has snubbed the NALEO gathering for three years running. But every year the Governor of the NALEO conference host-state makes an act of presence. You’d think that with the growing political clout of the Latino community every politician running for national office would want a few minutes in front of these folks. You’d think.

Obama’s no-show has been taken by many at the conference as a not-so-subtle message – he thinks he’s got Latinos in his back pocket. But this Perry speech? It felt like someone had brought the AC down a couple of notches.

That evening the speech was fodder for attendee conversation, then it fizzled and folks went on to other topics and concerns of the day. I don’t know if the Governor will forget it as quickly as that. Admit it or not, he’s got presidential aspirations and this may not have been the best of introductions to a national Latino audience. One conference goer, not from Texas, said “close your eyes and listen to him, his speech patterns, his use of words, he sounds just like George Bush.”

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda

[Photo by Gage Skidmore, NALEO]