Latino Voters: Misconceptions and Reality

“atinos are the fastest growing major segment of the U.S. population; consequently, their electoral participation stands to have a profound effect on the policy direction of our country in the years and decades to come. Despite this dynamic, there is a great deal of misinterpretation about the precise contours of the Latino electorate and the issues that resonate with them. To delve into these important and timely topics, the National Council of La Raza NCLR and the Center for American Progress will convene a group of nationally renowned experts who will discuss the demographics, registration and voting patterns, and the multitude of issues that motivate Latino voters.

Friday, February 16, 2007, 9:00am – 12:00pm
Breakfast will be served at 8:30 AM

Welcoming Remarks:

Dan Restrepo, Director, The Americas Project, Center for American Progress

Session I: The Nature, Size, and Potential of the Latino Electorate

Luis Fraga, Associate Professor of Political Science, Stanford University and co-principal investigator, Latino National Survey
Gary Segura, Associate Professor, University of Washington, and co-principal investigator, Latino National Survey
Clarissa Martinez De Castro, Director, State Policy & Advocacy, National Council of La Raza
Ruy Texeira, Joint Fellow, Center for American Progress & The Century Foundation

Moderator:
Geri Mannion, Chair, Strengthening U.S. Democracy Program, Carnegie Corporation of NewYork

Session II: Resonant Issues in the Latino Electorate

Sergio Bendixen, CEO, Bendixen & Associates
Tamar Jacoby, Senior Fellow, The Manhattan Institute
Celinda Lake, President, Lake Research Partners
Lionel Sosa, CEO, Mexicans & Americans Thinking Together MATT.org
Moderator:
Cecilia Munoz, Vice President, National Council of La Raza

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005″

• The purchasing power of Hispanics is growing at a rate nearly 3 times as fast as that of the general population in Arizona and nationwide, said an Arizona State University business expert who has studied the market for 14 years.
• Latino population growth adds to House seats – 6 states expected to gain congressional slots due to surge in Hispanic numbers
• Trend Toward Smaller Families in Latin America – The number of people per household in Latin America will fall by 18 percent by 2020, according to a study released in this capital Tuesday by consulting firm Euromonitor International.
• Latinos make up a combined 77% of the population growth in the eleven states projected to lose a House seat – would have fared worse had Latinos not moved there in record numbers
• After the 2010 Census, new Members of Congress in states like Georgia and South Carolina as well as Arizona and Texas will owe their positions, in part, to the expanding Latino population.
• Magnet States for Hispanics in 2008: Marketing Implications – Felipe Korzenny
• Authorities say a 7-year-old boy, three women and a university professor are among 15 people who were killed in a single day (this past Friday) in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.
• ASU, ALRE release major study on Arizona’s Latino population – (direct link to report & powerpoint)
• Longtime Rutgers Professor, Community Activist, Gay-Rights Pioneer Hilda Hidalgo Loses Cancer Fight
• University of Central Florida Professor Luis Martínez-Fernández was recently named to the College Board’s governing body
• NCLR TO CELEBRATE LAUNCH OF SENATOR BOB MENENDEZ’S BOOK, GROWING AMERICAN ROOTS
• DOBBS’S DECISION TO RESIGN IS A STEP FORWARD FOR FAIRNESS, ACCURACY, AND BALANCE ON CABLE NEWS
• The scheduled appearance next week of an anti-illegal immigration activist at a student-sponsored forum on the University of Nevada, Reno campus is causing outrage among some faculty, students and members of the community.
• Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez and Paul Espinosa, professors in ASU’s Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, are recipients of awards from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. The awards recognize energy, expertise and remarkable contributions to the Hispanic community.
• LANDMARK HOUSE HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL IS GOOD FOR LATINOS, SENATE NEEDS TO COMPLETE THE TASK AND BUILD ON THE HOUSE EFFORT, SAYS NCLR
• Hispanic population growing in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
• Like California’s 30 years ago, Oregon’s growing Latino population is reaching a tipping point: A critical mass of Latino professionals is starting to organize and influence state and local politics. – dubbed Latino Agenda for Action
• In a new book Migration and the Transformation of the Southern Workplace Since 1945 (University of Florida Press), University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Professor of History Colin Davis, Ph.D., along with his co-editor, Robert Cassanello, present a collection of seven essays that examine the impact that migration and globalization are having on labor in the American South.
• Southern cities are attracting more immigrants
• Nevada Hispanic Services chief tired of being a lightning rod – Jesse Gutierrez