How the women leading Democrats' push for Latino votes hope to win on abortion
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
For the first time in 22 years, women are leading a major fundraising operation for Latino Democrats in Washington. These women say they bring a critical perspective to a race for Latino votes in an election where abortion will play a major role. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales has more.
LINDA SANCHEZ: Double latte mocha (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Mocha.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Congresswoman Linda Sanchez is visiting a busy coffee shop in her home district in Los Angeles County. She's head of the political arm of the Democrats' Congressional Hispanic Caucus. This coffee shop is part of an incubator for Latino businesses. Sanchez wants to be an incubator for Latino votes.
SANCHEZ: I'm on this mission to convince Latinas that we need more of them in Congress if we want the Congress to look like the America that it's supposed to represent.
GRISALES: She's part of a larger team of women leading the political action committee.
VICTORIA MCGROARY: We want to defend our incumbent and get more Latinos and Latinas elected to Congress.
GRISALES: That's BOLD Pac executive director Victoria McGroary back in Washington, D.C. She argues having women at the forefront of their organization is key heading into the 2024 elections, especially as they focus on voters who could swing control of Congress and the White House.
MCGROARY: Latinas are critically important to our efforts not only in taking back the House but also in defending the majority in the Senate and defending the White House as well.
GRISALES: Sanchez and McGroary argue that Latino voters were fundamental for Democratic victories in the 2022 midterm elections and play an increasingly important role in battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Arizona. North Carolina Congressman Richard Hudson knows that quite well. Hudson chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, the political arm of the House GOP. He thinks Democrats have it wrong on Latino voters.
RICHARD HUDSON: Well, they are a huge voting bloc, and they're certainly a bloc that Republicans continue to do better with because I think we share values, and I think we'll continue to do our outreach. We expect them to be a big part of our winning coalition.
GRISALES: Hudson argues that Democrats have taken Latino voters for granted. Republicans want to take advantage of that to win in more House districts in places like Texas, California and Florida. Those targets also include Pennsylvania and Oregon, where smaller populations of Latino voters could make the difference on who controls congressional chambers with razor-thin margins.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Anything else for you guys?
GRISALES: But back at the LA County coffee shop, Sanchez says Republicans are missing a glaring obstacle this upcoming election cycle.
SANCHEZ: They continue to have in their blind spot the fact that reproductive rights are a very motivating issue.
GRISALES: In surveys, a growing majority of Latinos, similar to other groups in the country, see access to abortion as a top issue and that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, a key value for Democrats. Oregon Congresswoman Andrea Salinas knows that firsthand. The freshman Democrat saw abortion play out as a major issue in her first election.
ANDREA SALINAS: Oregon has always been very strong in defending reproductive rights.
GRISALES: Salinas was the first Latina elected to Congress from Oregon, and her district includes the state's largest share of Latinos. BOLD Pac's members argue that although Democrats lost the House in 2022, they defeated plans for a red wave. McGroary says that old playbook, plus a bigger wave of Latino voters expected to turn out in the election year, will spell blue wins across the country come November.
MCGROARY: I think we will absolutely be talking about how Latinos showed up, how they mobilized their community and they got to the polls and they voted for Democrats.
GRISALES: Democrats may be bullish about winning Latino voters, but that does not necessarily guarantee a path to a majority. Claudia Grisales, NPR News.
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