California Latinos set to wield greater sway at ballot box

Maria Ramirez had no intention of ever becoming a U.S. citizen - her extended family was still in Mexico and she felt comfortable and satisfied with her status as a legal permanent resident.

Then last summer, Donald Trump announced his bid for the presidency, promising to make America great again by, among other things, building a wall along the nation's southern border to keep out Mexican immigrants, whom he famously described as rapists, drug mules and other criminals.

It was the beginning of a frustrating six-month period that ended on Jan. 6, when 56-year-old Santa Rosa grandmother submitted her application for citizenship.

“I told myself I have to do something, one way or another,” Ramirez said, speaking in Spanish.

She is among hundreds of thousands of California Latinos who have registered to vote for the first time, many of them motivated by a national political discourse they say is demonizing them and their families.

During the primary election last June, Latinos in California voted in record numbers, comprising 20 percent of the electorate, said Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc., a statewide nonpartisan firm that provides voter information to political campaigns.

Mitchell, considered one of California's preeminent election data experts, said Latinos are getting close to making up one in four voters in the state. While they make up 39 percent of California's overall population, the state's Latinos, Mitchell noted, constitute a much younger demographic than other ethnic groups, and younger people tend to have lower voter participation.

Newly registered Latinos represent 31 percent of the state's newly registered voters, meaning that Latinos are signing up to vote at a rate that is higher than their share of registered voters.

Mitchell said his firm tabulates the number of ethnic voter registrations using three factors: ethnic surnames derived from databases kept by the U.S. Census Bureau; the birthplace of voters; and the language of the ballots that voters request.

Sonoma County does not track voter registration by race or ethnicity, but overall voter registration is up, said Sonoma County elections manager Deena Thompson-Stalder. As of Friday the total number of registered voters was 266,313.

“This is a pretty historic election,” Thompson-Stalder said.

Oct. 24 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 8 general election. On Tuesday, county elections officials issued a reminder about that looming deadline and other important guidelines. Only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote. Citizens who are in prison or on parole for a felony conviction cannot vote.

Voters who have moved or who have changed their names should re-register by the deadline, officials said. California has online registration at www.registertovote.ca.gov. Postage-paid registration forms are available at city halls and post offices.

Mike Madrid, a GOP pollster based in Sacramento, said Mitchell's data clearly describes a surge in voter registration. Part of that, he said, is greater voter interest in the current election, but another reason could be demographics, as the state's Latino population hits the “tipping point.”

“The vast majority of people turning 18 are Latinos,” Madrid said. “Part of this is just natural demographic trends, and I would argue that's the most significant. But clearly the national political discourse has created an imperative in the Latino community to vote.”

The numbers are staggering, compared to the two previous elections.

According to data compiled by Mitchell's firm, between January and Oct. 1 of this year, there were more than 1.1 million newly registered Latinos in California, a figure that includes those who have registered for the first time and those who re-registered because of a change of address or some other reason.

That's more than three times the registration activity during the 2014 mid-term election, when there were 305,672 newly registered Latinos between January and October. It's more than twice the registration flurry among California Latinos in last presidential election in 2012.

Since January, the state has seen a total of 4.1 million newly registered voters, Mitchell said.

Like Ramirez, Ramon Meraz, 47, is concerned about the nation's political climate as it relates to Latinos and Latino immigrants, but he said he is also concerned about local issues, including wages for low-paid workers, regulation of food truck businesses and building more affordable housing while protecting the environment.

Meraz, who was born in Mexico, came to the United States as a teen in 1985 and just barely qualified for President Reagan's landmark 1986 amnesty law, which granted more than 3 million illegal immigrants a path to legal residency. Meraz became a citizen in 2000 and voted for Al Gore, the Democratic nominee, in his first presidential election. He now serves on the Sonoma County Human Rights Commission, appointed by 5th District Supervisor Efren Carrillo.

“It's a scary moment in history for any minority and for immigrants,” said Meraz. “The movement that is pushing Trump forward is turning all minorities into the boogeyman for many communities, mostly white, but many communities.”

Meraz said he hopes his vote can help curb what he sees as a dangerous movement for the United States. But he said it's going to take much more than one election cycle.

“There's a lot of work to be done,” he said. “And it's going to be done by people who are in the fields of not just politics but also educators; everyone has a part, and places like Sonoma County can really be a model for the rest of the country.”

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.