GOP aims to improve outreach to Latinos
The GOP in California faces increasing electoral challenge as the numbers of Democratic-leaning Latino voters continue to grow.
As demographics shift in the state, California Republican Party officials acknowledge the party needs to do a better job of communicating its policy goals directly to Latino voters. Beginning with the first-ever GOP Latino Town Hall meeting at its fall convention in Los Angeles recently, new efforts by the California Republican Party will include more town hall meetings and candidate recruitment, said Tom Del Beccaro, chairman of the party in California. "You can't persuade people to whom you never speak," Del Beccaro said. "We've tended to directly communicate with only a small portion of California, and if we want a two-party system, we have to have two party communication." State Sen. Bob Huff, R-Walnut, said the town hall event was a "a good start" but more work needs to be done toward finding common ground. "We need to highlight what unites us, not what divides us," Huff said. "We need to listen more than speak. We need to roll up our sleeves and work along side them on issues important to them. I believe we share strong family values, moral values, personal responsibility, strong work ethic and fiscal conservatism to name a few traits. This is a good base to build on." Jan Taber, spokeswoman for state Senate Minority Leader Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, said the party is committed to job creation, education, and public safety. "These are issues important to all, and Republicans should be reaching out to all voters in California," Taber said. Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, agreed. "The values of most Latino families are more similar to Republican values with the focus on strong core family values, public safety, education, and the rule of law," Hagman said. "Generally the media only focuses on one issue, and that's illegal immigration." Ron Wall, chairman of the San Bernardino County Democratic Party, said the Republican stance on immigration and social programs isn't helping the party. "Republicans are going to have a difficult time because many of the items on their platform hurt the Latino population," Wall said. "I think it's going to be problematic for Republicans to demonstrate to Hispanic voters they really have their priorities in mind when they're designing their platform." About 70 percent of Latino voters lean Democratic, said Scot Zentner, a political science professor at Cal State San Bernardino. "The Republican Party generally pitches policies that have a broader scope, and the Democratic party, at least ideologically, is more geared toward more individual groups and appealing to their sense of disadvantage and their needs over the broader society," Zentner said. "Republicans tend to shy away from that, so it's very difficult I think for Republicans to make serious inroads in light of identity politics." A Field Poll report released this month showed that Latino voters preferred the Democratic ticket in the last presidential election over Republicans by 9 percentage points as a share of the state's total vote. Latino voters also make up 22 percent of the state's registered voters, up from the 10 percent in 1992. "Generally speaking, Latino voters have a more sympathetic view toward the need for government services, and Republicans are pretty much running against the government," said California Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo. Adrian Pantoja, a political science professor and Latino studies professor at Pitzer College, said Republicans would have to change their policy positions in order to make serious inroads with Latino voters. "The scenario for Republicans is the hope that Latinos ideologically become conservative as a result of their religion orientation," Pantoja said. "The problem with that is it hasn't worked. Latinos care about values, but they also care about jobs, healthcare, and education. That's more important than other social issues." Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Hesperia, said Republican principles shouldn't be compromised or diluted in order to attract Latino voters to the party. Donnelly reiterated the message that Republicans and Latino voters have much in common. "(Latino voters) want the exact same thing that I want," Donnelly said. "They want to live in a country that's free, a community that's safe, and they want a better future for their children, and that starts with a good education. If they look at the Democrats' track record, our education is in the toilet and 2.5 million are out of work. The Democrats' solution to the budget is to dump thousands of criminals back into our streets."