Latino Voters Are Ready to Make a Splash This Election Season

With Hispanic people making up over 20 percent of the state's population, the Democratic Latino voting bloc has emerged as a political force to be reckoned with.

In Colorado's newly added 8th Congressional District — which encompasses much of the firmly republican Weld County but also contains the highest concentration of Hispanic residents out of any of the state's other congressional districts — Democratic and Latina candidate Yadira Caraveo recently defeated Republican Barbara Kirkmeyer in a highly competitive election.

According to a recent poll of more than 1,500 registered Latino voters in Colorado for the 2022 Latino Policy Agenda Report, the minority group remains highly motivated to make its voice heard in Colorado's political arena. The report says that 50 percent of respondents have seen their economic situation become worse in the past twelve months.

Milo Marquez, director of the Latino Action Council for the Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy & Research Organization, says that if politicians aren't careful, they will lose their Latino voters: "Politicians come into our communities to get our vote, but once they're elected, they always forget about us." For the largest minority group in the state, this could flip the scale in elections.

Economic issues ultimately take priority for Colorado Latinos, while other issues of concern include addressing gun violence and mass shootings, addressing climate change/transitioning into clean energy, and protecting reproductive rights.

"Support for protecting reproductive health and abortion rights outnumbers support for banning abortion by a margin of 3 to 1," the report states. "Nearly two-thirds (61%) of respondents say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports the expansion of abortion and reproductive health access; and 58% said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade makes it more likely they will vote in the November midterms."

The Latino Policy Agenda's report informed multiple rounds of policy briefings and discussions among participants in Colorado's seventeenth annual Latino/a Advocacy Day (LAD), according to Beatriz Soto, the director of Protégete for Conservation Colorado and one of the event's organizers.

LAD was created in 2006 to address state and federal anti-immigrant policies. It has continued to bring Latinos from across the state together to discuss and advocate for issues important to them.

This year, more than 300 citizens from across Colorado took part in LAD, beginning on March 19 with a day of discussion at the downtown Grand Hyatt.

On March 20, the crowd marched to the State Capitol to meet with Governor Jared Polis and other state lawmakers to advocate for their policy priorities. They called for support of House Bill 1115, which would repeal the statewide ban on rent control, and Senate Bill 190, which would prohibit the use of deceptive advertising by anti-abortion centers intending to intercept patients seeking abortion care. They also called for support on a number of legislative changes aimed at protecting communities, among them bills that would keep citizens safe from air pollution and contaminated water along with legislation supporting equitable and sustainable housing policy.
LAD also held a rally on the steps of the Capitol, where the large crowd chanted "Sí, se puede," the motto of the United Farm Workers of America, continually between speeches. Elizabeth Velasco, representative for Colorado's 57th District, described the importance of Latino involvement in politics during a speech at the rally, saying, "We were 70 percent of the COVID cases in communities that only have a 30 percent Latino [population]. And that is because we are the essential workers. We are the people that make our communities run."

State Senator Julie Gonzales was slated to speak at the event but got caught up in a standoff over Senate Bill 109, which would increase penalties against those who distribute drugs that result in deaths caused by overdose. Gonzales says she had "major problems" with the bill.

"Say you and I are sharing drugs, and I buy [our] drugs this week and you buy [our] drugs next week, and we go back and forth like that, and you give me some drugs and I overdose and die — you could then [face] 32 years in prison," Gonzales explains.

She says that this kind of legislation, which gives discretion to law enforcement, prosecutors and even judges, often results in a "disproportionate impact" on communities of color. By fighting against the bill, Gonzales ironically missed Monday's rally in order to advocate for the Latino community.

Denver mayoral candidate Ean Thomas Tafoya did make an appearance at the rally. "I think a lot of what's happening in Denver is happening across the state of Colorado," says Tafoya. "We're talking about homelessness, we're talking about a housing crisis, we talk about air pollution, water pollution, transportation issues." These challenges, he says, "are shared by Latinos all across Colorado."

On a national level, unaffiliated Latino voters are on track to become one of the largest swing voter groups, Axios reports. In states like Florida, Latinos tend to lean more to the right, while the opposite is true in states like California. In the country as a whole, 60 percent of Latinos supported Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections.

Protégete director Soto thinks it is important for politicians and candidates from across the state to listen to their Latino constituents and understand their priorities. "At the end of the day, I think it's really important for all the candidates to do their due diligence and do their jobs to actually go and engage with their community," she says.