Hispanic vote key, Pena says
Federico Pena, the former Denver mayor and cabinet secretary under President Bill Clinton, urged area Hispanics to turn out to vote on Tuesday.
"If we don't speak up, who will? And one of the best ways to speak up is by voting," said Pena, noting that people of Hispanic descent now make up about 20 percent of Colorado's population but that, as a group, they turn out for elections at a lower level.
Pena, who currently operates a consultant firm in Denver, delivered a 15-minute address at the monthly luncheon of the Latino Chamber of Commerce at the Olde Towne Carriage House's meeting hall in the Union Avenue Historic District.
The staunch Democrat and supporter of President Barack Obama offered a mix of nonpartisan and partisan comments. He alternated between pushing for a big Hispanic voter turnout Tuesday to leveling harsh criticisms at unspecified candidates and groups who support Arizona's new immigration law.
Other than to reiterate his support for Obama and some of his policies, Pena did not single out any Democratic, Republican or independent candidates by name for either support or criticism.
He also acknowledged the current administration faces challenges of its own. "I know we are all frustrated. I'm frustrated. . . . But that's a topic for another day and another conversation."
Nationwide, polling ahead of Tuesday's election show large numbers of Democratic nominees are trailing their Republican or independent rivals.
Pena's visit came during a chamber meeting that also featured presentations on several of the ballot questions that await voters Tuesday. The chamber last month featured presentations by political candidates.
Supporters of two Pueblo ballot questions — one to extend the half-cent sales tax for economic development and the other to use $10 million in vendor fees to renovate Memorial Hall — touted the measures.
Elsewhere, Latino Chamber President Sandy Gutierrez and Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce President Rod Slyhoff talked in opposition to three state tax-limit measures on the ballot, Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101. The board of directors of both chambers oppose the measures, they said.
No other speakers addressed local or state measures.
Pena said he planned to meet with other civic groups in Pueblo and also walk through Downtown as part of his get-out-the-vote effort. Recalling Obama's two Pueblo visits during his presidential run, "Your community is becoming more and more important in the election cycle," Pena told chamber members.