New York Times
10-29-07
New Hispanic Voters in Iowa Push Democrats Into Balancing Act
By LESLIE WAYNE
DES MOINES — At La Favorita, a Mexican grocery store here, there is plenty of
food for sale — and also a new brand of politics.
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A handwritten sign, hanging over the door, proclaims in Spanish: “Wake up!
Register to vote! It is the hour to unite and change our future, the future of our
children — and the future of this country!”
And every weekend, at a small table behind the newspapers and a case of cold
sodas, a trickle of newly minted citizens are doing just that — not in numbers
large enough to constitute a voting bloc, but enough to make politicians take
notice.
The effort reflects the growing presence of Hispanics here in Iowa, posing a
challenge to Democrats who are eager to court a new interest group but wary of
offending conservative white voters concerned about immigrants flowing into
their state.
At campaign stops, Democratic candidates are frequently asked, often in hostile
tones, what they are going to do about the influx of immigrants, mainly from
Mexico and Central America, that are streaming into Iowa and changing the
culture, and potentially, the political landscape of this early nominating state.
For Democrats, the situation in Iowa could be a harbinger for other states, as
rural America deals with a flow of immigrants that other places, like Florida, New
York and California, have already experienced.
“Democratic strategists know that the Latino vote is their future,” said Hector
Avalos, a professor and founder of the U.S. Latino Studies program at Iowa
State University. “But they are having to handle this with kid gloves. They don’t
want to anger native Iowans. But they know that there could potentially be
millions of new voters nationwide. Democrats are sort of treading lightly, and
trying to appease both sides.”
To varying degrees, Democratic presidential candidates are reaching out to
Latino voters here. Many have set up Hispanic steering committees, sent
bilingual workers to Hispanic events and sponsored visits from Hispanic
politicians. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois brought Federico Peña, the former
Denver mayor and national Obama campaign co-chairman, to Iowa, while the
Clinton campaign played host to a visit from Senator Robert Menendez of New
Jersey, who is Cuban-American.
But no campaign is reaching out too far. Most Democrats steer clear of the
immigration issue unless it is raised by voters at campaign events. Most
Democratic candidates supported the failed Kennedy-McCain bill in Congress,
which would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.. Yet they
talk tough on border security.
“Democrats running for office could take leadership on the issue of immigration
reform,” said Alex Orozco, an organizer with United for the Dignity and Safety of
Immigrants. “But they are not. I don’t sense that the Democrats think immigration
is a priority for them, not even close. When they do talk, they are often very good
at talking more about enforcement because if they talk positively, they open
themselves up to attack. The Republicans care more about this issue — but in a
negative way.”
Iowa, like other parts of the nation, is in the midst of change as more Spanishspeaking immigrants move into the state, taking jobs in meatpacking, corn and
egg processing plants. Evidence of their growing presence comes in the form of
new Spanish-language newspapers, radio shows and mom-and-pop stores in
fading downtown areas.
At the moment, an estimated 114,700 Latinos are in Iowa, a 28 percent increase
since 2000, according to the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs. In some small towns,
nearly a third of the citizens are Hispanic, although about half the Hispanic
population is concentrated in five Iowa cities, including Des Moines.
Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group, but still represent just 3.8 percent
of Iowa’s population. By most calculations, there are some 37,000 registered
Hispanic voters in the state.
Yet, as the population has grown, so have concerns. A Hawkeye poll conducted
by the University of Iowa in August showed that immigration was a “very
important” issue to 43 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of Republicans.
Those polled had a broad range of ideas about what should be done, from those
who supported efforts to make illegal immigrants citizens to those who favored
mass deportations. On top of that, a series of highly publicized workplace raids at
meatpacking and other plants here have heightened emotions on all sides.
Latino leaders like Bernard Ortiz, who came to Iowa 30 years ago and is the
Latino outreach organizer for the Service Employees International Union, has
made it a mission to register Hispanic voters. Each weekend, he goes to La
Favorita, Mexican rodeos or local soccer games that attract immigrant families to
sign up new voters and explain the caucus process.
“Republicans in Iowa have made a big effort to use us as a scare tactic,” Mr.
Ortiz said in an interview. “And that works well for a good percentage of Iowans.
The Democratic contenders are doing a good job of addressing Latino issues
outside of Iowa but are fearful of losing voters here. Both think we are irrelevant
to the process. But we are in the process of registering to show that we are not
irrelevant.”
Many new citizens avoid anything to do with the government, given the recent
workplace raids. Others come from countries with a history of corruption and fear
their vote is irrelevant.
“Lots of new citizens come here with an old country mentality,” Mr. Ortiz said.
“They feel their vote doesn’t matter and the rich always win.”
Gricelda Ramirez, whose father, Ignacio, owns La Favorita, said a combination of
fear and apathy was hurting voter registration efforts. In addition, the caucus
process, in which voters must appear before their neighbors and speak up about
their political choices, can be intimidating for those for whom English is a second
language.
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“A lot of people are scared to get involved because they think that immigration
will come for them,” Ms. Ramirez said. “Even though they have become citizens,
they don’t know where to vote or what it is all about.”
By most accounts, Hispanic leaders here say that among the Democrats the
Obama campaign has been the most aggressive in reaching out to them.
“We are reaching out to nontraditional people,” said Joan Kato, head of Hispanic
outreach for the Obama campaign. “We can’t expect the voters to come to us, so
we are going to them and showing up at events to build trust.”
The Obama campaign has sent Ms. Kato and her crew to over 50 Latino events
in the state, is lining up Spanish-speaking supporters to work on caucus night,
has printed literature in Spanish and English explaining the caucus process and
has a Latino steering committee in every region of the state.
“We’ve been heavily courted by Obama,” said Dawn Martinez Oropeza, an
activist with the Iowa Allies for Immigration Reform. “Obama has been the only
one there right from the beginning — we’ve gotten V.I.P. tickets to events, he’s
been on conference calls with Latino leaders and they’ve always had booths at
Latino events. He’s tried to make a more personal connection with the
community. From the others, we’ve gotten no invitations to anything.”
Jesus Estrada, Latino outreach coordinator for the Iowa Democratic Party, said
Latinos were a natural constituency for the Democrats. But he, too, is aware of
the challenges.
“Our biggest problem is to get people to understand the process,” said Mr.
Estrada, whose father is from Venezuela. “Many don’t have a clue, and we need
to relate politics to their everyday lives. We’re targeting the audience, and we are
getting the message out.”
Democrats Move Up Iowa Date
DES MOINES, Oct. 28 (AP) — Iowa Democrats voted on Sunday to move their
leadoff precinct caucuses to Jan. 3, the same date Republicans picked earlier
this month, said Chris Allen, a party spokesman.
The move allows both parties to continue the tradition of meeting on the same
night.
The precinct caucuses had been scheduled for Jan. 14, but the parties moved
them up as other states rushed to the front of the primary calendar. The major
remaining question is the date of the New Hampshire primary, originally
scheduled for Jan. 22. Secretary of State Bill Gardner of New Hampshire has
said that he will schedule that primary no later than Jan. 8.