Latino Summit Political Road Map

With the 2016 presidential race well underway, many from the Latino community wished to voice their opinions and concerns at the Latino Summit in the Lawrence Hutton Community Center in Colton. On Thursday Jan. 28, members of the community came out to hear support for both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, and to cast their straw vote accordingly. The summit hopes to “jump-starting” a state-wide Latino voter mobilization for the June 7 California primary election. By their projections, California will be the deciding state in nominating the democratic presidential candidate. After the primary, the plan is to continue the momentum and mobilize a nationwide Latino voter movement. In attendance was University of California Riverside political scientist and summit organizer Dr. Armando Navarro, Chairperson George Aguilar of the Inland Empire League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Colton’s District 3 councilmember Frank J. Navarro, and 61st District Assemblyman Jose Medina. Representing the “Hillary Clinton” campaign was congressman Pete Aguilar of the 31st District, and representing the “Bernie Sanders” campaign was Los Angeles Councilman Gil Cedillo of the 1st District. Joshua Coda, a 33-year-old Riverside, resident came out to learn more, “I heard about it [Latino Summit] and am interested in hearing what the Latino community has to say about Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, and their reasoning for supporting either candidate.” A number of common issues where talked about amongst the crowd such as, healthcare, jobs training, fair employment, and money in politics. One such individual, retired planning manager for Colton of 17 years, Andres Soto, a Riverside resident since 1956 had this to say on the issue of jobs training and fair employment, “It’s not just about college, it’s trades as well. It’s job training, where you go to these schools and then theirs no jobs for them. For example, they’ll take a young person and say, we’ll train you to be a welder. There’s no welding jobs. Why are you training them?” Three major political themes highlighted the evening, the importance of the Latino vote for California’s primary, and presidential elections. The potential of a Latino swing vote capability, and the severe consequences facing the Latino community if they do not mobilize their voting power in the upcoming elections. 20-year-old Los Angeles resident, Arturo Gomez, spoke on the importance of the vote, “I really want to know how we can get Latinos to go out and vote, to make sure that the sleeping giant wakes up, and politicians understand that we’re an electorate that shouldn’t be taken for granted.” According to the Pew Research Center, the upcoming 2016 election cycle will see a projected 27.3 million in eligible Latino voters, but the problem arises with voter turnout. According to Francisco Sola of the Latino Voter Registration Project, the Latino vote is a young vote. Millennial Latinos will account for nearly half of the projected 27.3 million eligible voters. Sola remarked, “We are wasting our political power by not voting. We have tremendous political power.” The evening was charged with the prospect of a new president and the issues at hand. James Dudley a Moreno Valley resident for 30 years who worked as a congressional staffer, and was the executive vice president of his union local summed up the concerns facing the community that night, “It’s all about the people, we need to be doing what’s right on behalf of the people in this country.” A unifying idea that many find themselves able to agree with despite whom they vote for, doing what is right on behalf of the American people.