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With Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in a dead heat among likely caucus goers in Nevada, Latino voters are positioned to make a difference in the Silver State. Saturday’s Democratic caucus will mark the first time in this election cycle that a western state will make its voice heard.
Latinos constitute a little bit more than a quarter of Nevada’s population and make up about 17 percent of the state’s voters. Of note, almost three-quarters of Latinos in the state are of Mexican origin.
Andres Ramirez, President of the Ramirez Group, a public relations and advocacy firm based in Las Vegas, Nevada, told teleSUR English that the top issues for Latino voters include the economy, health care, education, and immigration.
“Many of these specific issues are just coming into focus now that Iowa and New Hampshire are over. The MSNBC/Telemundo town hall on Thursday will reveal a lot. I can’t speak much for the GOP side, but this has been the most intense effort to reach Latinos that I have seen during a presidential primary in Nevada,” Ramirez said.
There are a few key races in Nevada that the Latino community is excited about including the race for Congressional District 4, where there are three Latino candidates on the ballot: Lucy Flores, John Oceguera, and Ruben Kihuen. Additionally, in the race to replace Senator Harry Reid, Catherine Cortez Masto is on the ballot, who if elected would be the first Latina to represent Nevada in the U.S. Senate. However, the primary election for state and federal offices is not until June 14.
Powerful and Moving Endorsement of Bernie Sanders From NV Politician Lucy Flores (D) https://t.co/f1sccSJtyr
— Art Vandalay (@soxfaneast) January 25, 2016
These races do feature prominently in the battle between the Sanders and Clinton campaigns because of Latino endorsements. Flores, a Democrat running to represent Congressional District 4, has endorsed Bernie Sanders, while her opponents have endorsed Hillary Clinton. Cortez Masto, the former Nevada attorney general and Democratic candidate, has endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Ramirez said that Cortez Masto is one of the most formidable politicians in Nevada and that her endorsement of Clinton “will be a big signal to Democrats in the state who may have waffled in their support after New Hampshire.”
“I believe that Bernie has a more compelling vision and a broader vision, and I agree more with his priorities,” Flores told teleSUR English. “Latinos are definitely familiar with Secretary Clinton, but what I have seen anecdotally is that our community wants to hear about options. They are open to hearing the ideas that Bernie Sanders has. It shouldn’t be a given that any particular candidate can assume to have our support.”
Latino and black voters have been considered Clinton’s “firewall,” but in Nevada 44.5 percent of Latino eligible voters are considered millennials (ages 18-33). Young adults favored Sanders in Iowa and in New Hampshire. His messages about the economic system being rigged in favor of the rich, his policy ideas such as free public college and university, and his effort to end the federal criminalization of marijuana resonate with young adults. In Nevada, 17 year olds are eligible to caucus if they will be 18 at the time of the November election.
Watch two young Latinos in Nevada share what draws them to rally for Bernie Sanders (via @NBCLatino): #Decision2016https://t.co/2ppGP8xor4
— NBC News Videos (@NBCNewsVideo) February 17, 2016
“We are making sure that our message of changing the political system is getting into the Latino community in Nevada. We have seen recent polls that indicate that there is a bigger favorability for Bernie Sanders once Latinos learn about who he is and hear his message,” Erika Andiola, the Sanders’s Latino press secretary, told teleSUR English. “The fact that Hillary Clinton is running with the help of Wall Street doesn’t really help her credibility in our community.”
teleSUR English did reach out to Lorella Praeli, Clinton’s Latino outreach director for comment in this piece, but did not receive a response.
This week Clinton’s Latino surrogates that include former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros and labor activist Dolores Huerta were all out campaigning for her. Congressman Xavier Becerra, a Clinton backer, also criticized Sanders’s immigration record via Twitter taking him to task for voting against the 2007 immigration reform bill.
Sanders did vote against the 2007 immigration reform bill citing the creation of a guest worker program that was in the bill, which he considers exploitive and likened the guest worker program to slavery, but he has indicated that he would use executive powers to protect undocumented immigrants. Clinton has also said that she would use executive powers to protect the undocumented.
On Saturday, the turnout of the Latino community is going to make the difference. The Clinton campaign is counting on the endorsements of high profile Latino leaders in addition to canvassing in areas of the state where there are high concentrations of Latinos, while the Sanders campaign notes that it has 12 campaign offices in the state and is counting on the enthusiasm of younger Latinos.
Clinton is hoping to put herself back on track toward the Democratic nomination after her double-digit defeat in New Hampshire. Her campaign is heavily invested in Nevada and has had an office in the state since last April, six months before Sanders had a presence there. If Sanders does well among Latinos, it will prove that Hillary Clinton’s "firewall" is weakened.
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