Vélez's View

Latino Americans will play a vital role in the upcoming 2010 mid-term elections. Latinos, the largest and fasting growing minority group in the United States, were instrumental in electing the last two U.S. presidents. If voting tends keep with the present pace, few politicians in this country will be able to hold an elected position without winning the Latino vote.

Census figures today show 46.9 million Latinos make up 15.4 percent of the total U.S. population. By 2050 more than 130 million Latinos will live in the U.S., about 30 percent of the population or 1 in 4 residents. An estimated 12.1 million registered Latinos voted in 2008 representing an increase of 2.8 million since 2006, or a 30.5 percent increase, making it the largest numerical increase in U.S. Latino voter registration history.

According to the William C. Velasquez Institute, Latino voter polls for the 2008 Presidential Election showed then-Senator Barack Obama was supported by a 68.6 percent to 28.7 percent for Senator John McCain.

A report entitled “The Power of the Latino Vote in America” by America’s Voice, a pro-immigrant group, shows between 2000 and 2008 Latino voter registration grew 54 percent and turnout grew 64 percent. In the 2004 presidential race, 7.5 million Latinos voted. In the 2006 midterm election, 8 million voted, and in the 2008 presidential race, 10 million cast ballots.

Latinos make up at least 25 percent of the population in nearly one in five congressional districts. In the 2010-midterm elections America’s Voice suggests Latino voters will be a potentially decisive force in 37 House and Senate races, plus contests for governor in California, Colorado and Texas.

Statistics clearly indicate Latinos will continue to be a political powerhouse in the U.S. for many decades to come. For more information on the power of the Latino vote read July’s political column at El Boricua.com.