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are concerned about, it’s
going to be a good match for
Obama,” Arizona Gov. Janet
Napolitano told MSNBC.
On the other hand,
McCain’s extensive military
background and his record
of pushing immigration
overhaul, combined with the
GOP’s aggressive pursuit of
the Latino voters, could keep
it firmly in Republican hands.
Basically, it’s still anyone’s game when it comes to
New Mexico.
Nevada
Latinos in Nevada:
20 percent of the population
12 percent of the electorate
110,447 expected votes
M anuel Rendon, 19, son
of Mexican immigrants:
“Once I turned 18, I knew
that voting was the one way
to really make an impact. It
was my duty.”
As in New Mexico, Nevada’s
Latino population accounts
for the largest traditionally
underrepresented group
in the state. Also, as with New
Mexico, Nevada has experienced a
political shift.
While the ’70s and ’80s brought
a population boom of mostly white
“Reagan Republicans” to Nevada,
these days, the state is one of the
most diverse in the country. In
2008, Latinos will account for
110,447 votes in Nevada, according to projections by the U.S.
Census Bureau.
“Demographic changes have
worked to the advantage of the
Democratic Party here, and now
we see the Democratic Party opening up a sizable voter-registration
increase over the Republicans,”
David Damore, an associate
professor of political science at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas,
told CNN.
Las Vegas has the fastest-growing Latino population in the
country. So while Republicans do
well in Reno, Lake Tahoe and some
rural counties of the state, Las
Vegas and the surrounding areas of
Clark County make up 70 percent
of the state’s population, which is
largely young Latinos who are voting Democratic.
“I mention Nevada because
there is a high concentration of
Latinos there,” says Baca. “And it’s
not just the immigrants that come.
These are young generations of Latinos that are now turning 18 and
are registering to vote and they see
the importance [of voting].”
Accounting for five electoral-college votes, Latinos in the state
of Nevada make up 20 percent of
the population and 12 percent of
eligible voters. Compare that with
the 9 percent of Latino eligible
voters nationally and the battle becomes rigorous for both candidates
setting their sights on winning this
pivotal state.
Even with the
high percentage of
Latinos registering
Democratic in
the state, in early
September, McCain
was attracting
45 percent of
the Nevada vote
while Obama was
earning 42 percent,
according to
Rasmussen Reports.
Republicans have
won eight of the
last 10 presidential
elections in Nevada,
and in 2004, Bush
won the state by
a narrow margin
largely due to the
Latino support
he gained there,
according to a report
by the NALEO
Educational Fund and impreMedia.
The Nevada Democratic Caucus
was the first electoral battleground
where Latino voters mattered.
Obama’s biggest challenge in
Nevada will be moving past his defeat of Sen. Hillary Clinton in the
primaries—especially with Latino
voters—to win the state. Obama
took only 24 percent of the Latino
votes despite being endorsed by
the local 60,000-member Culinary
Workers Union (CWU), which is 45
percent Latino. In response, CWU
members claimed they weren’t
even informed of the union’s endorsement of Obama.
“Seven out of 10, that’s what
they say: ‘They never asked me—I
don’t know why they chose
Obama!’” Eddie Escobedo, publisher of Nevada Spanish-language
newspaper El Mundo, told CNN.
Obama, therefore, still has work
