Massachusetts Democrats launch new effort to court Latino voters

BOSTON - From Acton to Andover, voters packed the polls during last month's special election to replace the late-Sen. Edward Kennedy. Election officials reported record turnout in a race that resulted in the stunning victory of Republican Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakley.

But in Chelsea, Lawrence and New Bedford, cities with sizable Latino populations that have traditionally voted Democratic, turnout was low. Some residents said they didn't know - or didn't care - an election was going on given the lack of signs and campaign visits to their cities.

Now, just weeks after the epic defeat by Brown and new concerns about a shrinking base, the Massachusetts Democratic Party is launching an aggressive effort aimed at attracting Latino voters, the state's fastest growing population.

On Saturday, the state's Democrats will hold Spanish-language workshops for Latino activists interested in volunteering in campaigns and raising money for candidates. In addition, party officials hope to network with Latino grassroots activists who work independently of political parties.

The move, political observers say, is partly from the dismal efforts by the Coakley campaign to reach out to Latino voters, an important swing block that could have made the race closer. They say Coakley didn't campaign much in Latino neighborhoods and didn't advertise in Spanish-language media.

"We were completely ignored," said Maria Idali Torres, director of the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. "It wasn't until a week before the election that I got a call from her campaign. By that time, the writing was on the wall."

Alejandra St. Guillen, program director of Oiste, a Massachusetts group aimed at electing Latinos, said some Latino voters feel they repeatedly are taken for granted by candidates. "Often they come to us at the last minute or when they want us to translate something," St. Guillen said. "We complain over and over again, but I don't think it sinks in."

Gloribell Mota, director of training and education from the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said candidates haven't been intentionally ignoring Latino voters or their concerns. "I think it's a sense of not knowing about Latino community," said Mota who is organizing Saturday's "Grassroot Strategies for Victory" at the Westin Waltham Hotel, an event planned before last month's election. "We have to do a better job of reaching out."

Statewide, Latinos are one of the few groups that have seen their state population numbers rise in the last decade, according to U.S. Census estimates. And experts say their numbers are expected to grow because of birth rates and continued migration.

Currently, Latinos represent around 8 percent of the state's population. That number is predicted to jump after the 2010 U.S. Census.

Historically in Massachusetts, Latinos have been traditional Democratic voters. But recent studies in Texas and California suggest that as the population gets larger and more established, Latino voters become more independent and conservative

Torres and St. Guillen are scheduled to speak at the Democrats' Saturday event. Both said they'd also be willing to speak to the Massachusetts Republican Party about any outreach efforts for Latinos.

Tarah Donoghue, a spokeswoman for MassGOP, said Massachusetts Republicans currently don't have an outreach program aimed at Latinos but have a general "ethnic outreach" committee.

"I think there is a home for the Hispanic community in the GOP," said Donoghue. "Hispanics have an inclination toward family values and hard work that makes the Republican Party a good fit."

While most Latinos elected to office in Massachusetts are Democrats, Springfield and Lawrence have seen a handful of Latino Republicans successfully run for office in a nonpartisan seat. In addition, Latinos in Lawrence, who elected the state's first Latino mayor last year, previously helped elect former Mayor Michael Sullivan twice, a white Republican who aggressively advertised in Spanish-language newspapers.

And Brown enjoyed the support of some notable Latino activists, including Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient Francisco Urena of Lawrence.

Nationally, the GOP is jump starting efforts to woo Latino voters.

But Karla Romero, a Malden resident, said until now she hasn't seen either party in Massachusetts really reach out to Latino voters. That's partly why she's running as an independent for a state representative seat currently held by Democrat Paul Donato.

"I've had strong pulls from both sides to join their party," said Romero, a second-generation Latina born in Boston. "But I think people are ready for a new generation and new blood."