Latino leaders launch campaign

Nevada target for effort set at registering 15,000 new voters

WASHINGTON — Latino leaders and civic groups launched a bilingual campaign Tuesday in Nevada and other states to register new voters and increase Hispanic participation at the polls this fall.

The goal is to register and nudge 150,000 new Latino voters nationwide to the polls in November, including 15,000 in Nevada, a swing state with a competitive U.S. Senate race, an open governor’s race, two open congressional seats and many state and legislative contests.

“The goal is not to elect Democrats or Republicans. It’s about building political power in the community,” said Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota, a national civic engagement organization with operations in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida and Texas.

Monterroso and other Latino leaders unveiled the “USA Tu Poder” (Use Your Power) campaign during a news

conference at the National Press Club.

Monterroso said more than 13,500 new Latino voters have been registered in Nevada over the past four years, and the campaign launched Tuesday aims to increase that number to 15,000 total.

The campaign in Nevada is focused on Las Vegas and Clark County, where the majority of the state’s registered voters reside, he said.

Latinos make up 28 percent of the state population, and 328,000 are eligible to vote, according to Pew Research Center figures from 2016.

But only 42 percent of Latino voters are registered to vote, compared with 81 percent of white voters, according to the Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project.

Latinos turned out in record numbers in 2016, but strategists say Hispanics are less likely to turn out during midterm elections.

The national USA Tu Poder campaign is designed to drive registration and participation. In addition to get out the vote efforts by Mi Familia Vota, a digital campaign involving Phone2action and targeted advertising in English- and Spanish-language media will be used.

Broadcast journalist Maria Elena Salinas narrates TV ads in English and Spanish reminding Latinos that they have the “lowest voting rates.”

“You are an American, too. Use your vote,” Salinas says in the ads.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@ reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.