Hispanics push for clout at polls

Like many Hispanics, Antonio Carranza lived in Las Vegas for decades without going to the polls.

"The problem is, when we come to this country, we want to live here a few years, save some money and go back to Mexico," Carranza said.

Except that Carranza, a hotel showroom captain, stuck around for 30 years. He became a citizen of the United States in May and earlier this month registered to vote.

A coalition of businessmen and women who call themselves Amigos For Democracy hope to register at least 4,999 other new Hispanic voters in Clark County by Aug. 1 and an additional 5,000 by the next presidential election. If they succeed, they predict their clout will be felt in elections statewide.

Immigration and affirmative action typically head the list of national issues that concern emigres from such countries as Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Colombia. But they also care about such local issues as bilingual education, quality schools, affordable housing, crime and access to capital from financial institutions.

Las Vegan Eddie Escobedo, publisher of the 20,000-circulation El Mundo, a Spanish-language weekly newspaper, said the local Hispanic media will coordinate a get-out-the-vote campaign this fall that will encourage Hispanics to become "first-class citizens."

Escobedo, chairman of Amigos For Democracy, said that of an estimated 80,000 eligible Hispanic voters in the county, only about 43,000 are registered.

"It's a poor record," Escobedo conceded. "We come from Third World countries where we feel the vote doesn't count. So when we come to this country, we say, 'Why vote?' We come here with that apathy.

"If we don't get involved in the system, we will continue to be third-class citizens. One way to make an Hispanic move is to hurt their pride. If you only register to vote, you're still a third-class citizen. You become a first-class citizen only when you have left that voting booth."

According to estimates from the state demographer, slightly more than 160,000 Latinos live in the county -- 13 percent of the 1.24 million people living here. That makes them the county's largest minority group.

But few Hispanics have held public office in Southern Nevada or in the state Legislature. None have served on the North Las Vegas City Council, even though that municipality is about one-fourth Hispanic. None have served on the Las Vegas City Council, and only one, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau President Manny Cortez, was elected to the Clark County Commission.

Fernando Romero, vice chairman of Amigos For Democracy and president of Hispanics in Politics, sees a rosy future, however. Last month, 90 Hispanics of ages 18 to 25 participated in an Hispanics in Politics workshop for prospective new campaign workers. Romero predicted that more registered Hispanic voters would bring a sharp increase in Hispanic candidates.

Romero, a Mirage Resorts government-affairs manager, said one barrier to registering Hispanic voters is that many are reluctant to volunteer personal information because of run-ins with "over-zealous" immigration and law- enforcement officials.

"But as new citizens it behooves them to participate in the process," Romero said. "We are trying to cure an ill that has been present for decades, the ill being that we as Hispanics have been ostracized from the political process.

"We haven't been invited in terms of 'you should run for office.' Other people don't know us. People feel more comfortable voting for someone who looks physically like them."

But as Sandy Colon Peltyn noted, Hispanics have assimilated into the community and care about the same issues as everyone else. An unsuccessful state Senate candidate in 1994, Peltyn owns a Las Vegas engineering business with her husband and is a vice chairwoman of Amigos For Democracy.

"Believe it or not, the Hispanic community is very, very conservative in the way it thinks," Peltyn said. "We believe in family values. We are pro-life. We take very good care of our seniors."

The Los Angeles Times reported that Hispanic voter participation in California's June 2 primary was double what it was for the 1994 primary. That increased clout didn't prevent the majority of California voters from deciding to abolish bilingual education programs.

But Escobedo argued that Hispanics made the difference in 1996 when Democrat Loretta Sanchez beat then-incumbent Republican Robert Dornan in a Southern California congressional race that was one of the nation's most hotly contested battles.

"She won because of the Hispanic swing vote," Escobedo said. "That's what we want to be."

Still, Romero said, Hispanics in Las Vegas are wary of political trends in California that are eroding Hispanic rights in that state.

"A big concern is that there are always individuals who look at our culture, our ethnicity, and it rubs them the wrong way," Romero said. "They try to do something to hurt us, like English-only (proposals). Our Legislature keeps putting it down, but it keeps resurfacing.

"Unfortunately, Nevadans have a tendency to step on their tiptoes and look over the fence at California to see what they're doing."

Carranza, for one, is simply happy to be eligible to vote.

"This is a big, nice, beautiful country," he said. "I thought maybe I would go back to Mexico, but I changed my mind. This country has given me a lot of good things."

Amigos For Democracy plans to spend at least $10,000 to register voters and get them to the polls this year. In addition to El Mundo, other local Hispanic media involved in the effort are the Tiempo Libre, El Heraldo and Exito newspapers, radio stations KDOX 1280-AM and KLSQ 870-AM, and cable television stations Univision and Telemundo.

Much of the funding came from the Mexican Patriotic Committee, which has held profitable local celebrations for Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16).

Voter registration is occurring from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays at the Kmart stores at 2975 E. Sahara Ave. and 2671 N. Las Vegas Blvd.; La Bonita Groceries at Eastern and Ogden avenues; and the swap meet at Eastern and Owens avenues. Registration also is being held at commercial centers at Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road, Swenson Street and Twain Avenue, and Lamb Boulevard and Stewart Avenue.

Amigos For Democracy can be reached through El Mundo at 845 N. Eastern Ave. (649-1198), and via e-mail at [email protected].

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