Gabino Aguirre
Key swing states seeing growth of Latino population
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805
Latino voters are playing a big role in states that gained congressional seats and Electorial College votes, according to a report released this week by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The report is based on an analysis of the recent U.S. Census data.
The report found that more than 15 percent of eligible voters (U.S. citizens ages 18 years or older) in states that gained seats were Latinos. In states that lost seats, Latinos comprised a little more than 5 percent of the population.
With these reapportionment changes, Latinos will likely play an even larger role in national politics in the coming decade, the center reported.
Two states that gained seats are Florida and Nevada, states where Latinos are a growing share of eligible voters. Both states played key roles in the 2004 and 2008 presidential races.
Nationwide, an estimated 308 million people lived in the U.S. in 2010, up 9 percent from 2000, with Latinos accounting for 51 percent of that growth based on 2009 population estimates, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Among the nation’s 48.4 million Latinos in 2009, a record 20.1 million are eligible to vote, according to the center. Since the year 2000, nearly 6 million more Latinos have become eligible to vote and that number is expected to grow as there are now 15.5 million Latinos age 17 years or younger who are U.S. citizens.
The report, “The 2010 Congressional Reapportionment and Latinos,” authored by Mark Hugo Lopez, associate director, Pew Hispanic Center, and Paul Taylor, director of Pew Hispanic Center, is available at the center’s website, www.pewhispanic.org
Latinos are also playing a key role in redistricting efforts. Gabino Aguirre, a retired high school principal and former Santa Paula mayor and city councilmember, was recently selected out of a field of 60 applicants to serve as one of the final six members of the state’s first Citizen Redistricting Commission.
The entire 14-member commission, created as a result of the 2008 Prop. 11 (Voters FIRST Act), are charged with the task of creating districts of relatively equal populations that will provide fair representation for all residents in the state. The commission consists of five Republicans, five Democrats and four not affiliated with either of those parties.
Aguirre, a Democrat, was selected as one of the 60 finalists on Sept. 23 and approved as one of the final six members on Dec. 15.
For more information about the commission, visit http://www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov/commission.html