Video: Texas Democratic Chief Says Latino Vote is Key
At the Democratic National Convention, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa says the Latino population is the potential "game-changer" in Democrats' quest to turn Texas blue.
Hinojosa also said that the selection of San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro as the convention's keynote speaker is a recognition of his leadership and shows the importance of the Latino population to the party.
The Tribune is collaborating with YNN/Capital Tonight to provide convention coverage.
Comments (16)
Aron Pena via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Right you are Latinos will be Key. but in electing Romney/Ryan. Since we have had a wave of Latino Dems. switch to Republican party I don't think that is going to happen in Texas. Obama has declared a war on Hispanics: 1.6 million women, children and dreamers deported & La Promesa Broken. We will remember and vote for Change we can believe in!
Jill Meredith Bergene via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Aron....you are delusional and a supreme misogynist if you endorse Romney.
Adrianne Stone via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Jill why do you have to resort to name calling. If you have an different perspective then share it, if not you are just lowering the dialogue.
Chris Bazan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Aaron Pena is just mad that he made the wrong short-term political calculus of gerrymandering his own district without realizing it was obviously going to be thrown out by the courts (true sign of genius), at the expense of his long-term career...dems will control reins of power in Texas by 2020, at which point Aaron (along with JM Lozano) will beg to be part of the democratic party again
Dave Mundy via Texas Tribune on Facebook
A lot of blood will be shed before Texas gets taken over by the socialists
Aron Pena via Texas Tribune on Facebook
@ Chris Bazan, I guess you didn't hear that the Courts ruled dist. 41 was completely legal in making a dist. 50/50. Dems won't be competitive until at least 2030. Latino Texas is becoming more Republican and not more Democrat. Don't cry.
Aaron Peña via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Chris, that was my son who wrote the previous post. Let me however take this opportunity to correct you in telling you the Washington court reviewing Texas redistricting found the McAllen centered House District 41 to be legal. Sadly, since your newspaper has not kept you informed.
Chris Bazan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Great, good luck trying to win it....50/50 means it is a shoe in for us dems b/c we don't have "self-deport" advocate Mitt Romney at the top of the ticket or whoever is going to lose to Hillary Clinton in 2016 ;)
Chris Bazan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Mr. Pena, make that presidential candidate Julian Castro in 2016...lol
Glenda Turck via Texas Tribune on Facebook
The oppressed and marginalized too often refuse to see how they can spit in the eye of their oppressers by voting - now that the Voting Rights Act is in play.
Leland Acker via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Mr. Hinojosa doesn't get Texas, and therefore will continue to lead the Democrats down the road of irrelevancy. Upon assuming the role of Texas Democratic Party Chairman, he took an issue that should unite all Texans (school finance) and turned it into a racial issue by saying it was interesting that public education funding was cut due to increasing Hispanic enrollment.
Now, he continues to play racial politics in hopes of uniting the Hispanic population behind the Democratic Party, the way many believe the African American population is united behind the party.
If the Democrats turn Texas blue, they'll do it by offering solutions to school funding, infrastructure development, water development, and rural issues, while celebrating Texas heritage (which is multicultural), and while staying silent or neutral on social issues like gay marriage and abortion.
As long as the Democrats continue to play the race card, and parrot the national party on all issues, they will continue to be an inner-city party only, and will continue to get hammered in statewide races.
Granted, the Republicans are guilty of this too. I am tired of seeing the Republicans dominate Texas politics. We need two strong parties to keep balance, and a healthy state dialogue.
Connie Campos via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Shut up, already! Texas will never be blue!
V Marshall
Texas will turn blue again and probably before 2020 or 2030 as other posters have suggested. The reason was contained in another story TT ran last week. However I don't think having a Democratic majority is going to be as delightful as you all assume. The first time I lived in Texas in the early 90s it was (and had long been) a Democratic state. It seems that even the lessons of the 80s don't resonate with Texans - people who move in FROM other states will move out when Texas no longer offers advantages which compensate for the obvious disadvantages. The shift has already started.
gypsy314 ne
The only way this state will be blue if democrats cheat in every election and most of the illegal aliens will be leaving soon enough. I support legal immigration NOT illegal immigration. I know the country of Mexico plan is to flood American with there people and American welfare and finance system will fail if successful. we must do what ever it takes to make sure this crap does not happen.
Rudy Gonzales
We watched as the RNC pushed forward a multitude of Hispanic/Latino mayors, governors, and representatives in an effort to garner the Hispanic/Latino vote.
Texas lawmakers drew some districts that looked like Latino majority districts on paper — but removed Latinos who voted regularly and replaced them with Latinos who were unlikely to vote.
Texas lawmakers widened the gap between the proportion of the population that is Latino and African Americans and the proportion of districts that are minority-controlled.
Texas removed economic centers and district offices from African-American and Latino districts, while giving white Republicans perks.
Divide and conquer: Texas "cracked" minority voters out of one district into three.
Texas passed a voter-ID law with requirements that would make it disproportionately difficult for African Americans and Latinos to vote.
These voter and representation hurdles have been installed over the years by the TEA-Libertarian-Republican-GOP-Evangelical fringe controlled Texas Legislature.
Federal judges counted the ways Texas discriminates against minorities and people of color on voter rights. Texas' Republican-controlled legislature weakened the influence of Latino voters and in some cases evinced "discriminatory intent" against both Latinos and African Americans. Remember this as you watch the Democratic convention.
The TEA-Libertarian-Republican-GOP-Evangelical fringe calling for voter ID to combat voter fraud, while enacting additional voting restrictions, in Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Their voter fraud has been totally debunked, but serves as a rallying cry for the minimally educated and grossly influence-able.
Another panel of federal judges unanimously struck down a voter-ID law passed by the legislature in March 2011, arguing that it would disproportionately harm African-American and Latino voters. Both decisions hinged on Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires certain states with a history of racial discrimination in voting — including Texas — to prove that any changes in their voting laws or procedures do not hamper the voting rights of minorities.
This tells you who is on your side and who is not!
Adele Roberson
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/gop-representative-says-lets-hurl-some-
GOP Representative Says: 'Let's Hurl Some Acid At Those Female Democratic Senators'
Texans continue to vote for crazies. That makes them feel they are at home. Comfortable.