Latino Population Growth Drives Politics
April 3, 2012
The rapid growth of Arizona’s Latino population in the last decade is manifesting itself in the state’s political sphere, says a new report from the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.
Latinos now make up 30 percent of the state’s total population, and they are nearing majorities in the cities of Phoenix and Tucson. Eventually, Arizona overall will be majority Latino. The growth is showing up in many ways in our state, including political involvement.
"Consider this: We’re at a third of the population now," says James E. Garcia, communications director for the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "In one generation, when my 9-year-old daughter is an adult and a professional, we will be half of the population of this state. Those numbers aren’t going to be diverging any time soon.”
Latinos now hold 351 local, county and state elective offices in Arizona, according to the NALEO report.
Voter turnout is having an effect in other ways, too. Arjelia Gomez, chief economic development officer for Chicanos Por La Causa, a community development organization, points to the recall last year of state Senate President Russell Pearce.
“I think the fact that people are registering to vote, that there have been recall elections where the Latino vote made the biggest difference” are signs of political and social change, Gomez says.
Pearce was the Legislature’s leading advocate for cracking down on illegal immigration. And the role of Latinos in his recall leads to the question of how the crackdown, including Maricopa County Sheriff JoeArpaio’s immigrant sweeps, has affected Latinos politically.
“You know, people say Joe Arpaio has really hurt the immigrant and the Hispanic community," Nowakowski says. "I think he’s done us a favor. He kicked us in the behind, and he got us out to vote. He got us out to vote, and now we’re seeing Latinos voting in historic numbers.”
Nowakowski says he agrees with President Obama's campaign strategists, who see Arizona as winnable in November because of the growth of Latino voter turnout. Obama lost the state to favorite son Sen. John McCain in 2008 by 9 percentage points.