Castro running to be first Latino president – without Latino support
Rick Jervis
AUSTIN, Texas – Driving around Houston, political activist Andy Canales asked his aunt and mother their thoughts on the Democratic presidential candidates.
The sisters, naturalized U.S. citizens from El Salvador, mentioned Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke and commented on Pete Buttigieg’s youthful demeanor.
Missing from their banter: Julián Castro, the former U.S. housing secretary and San Antonio mayor – and lone Latino candidate among Democratic presidential hopefuls.
“They didn’t even mention him,” said Canales, chairman of Latino Texas, a political action committee that promotes Latino candidates. “Part of the challenge for (Castro) is people aren’t really paying attention as much right now – and name recognition is a challenge.”
As the Democratic primaries rapidly approach, Castro struggles to pull in national Latino voter support. A poll released this week by Telemundo Noticias showed Castro in a three-way tie for fourth place among Latino voters, with only 2% support. Former Vice President Joe Biden (26%) and Sanders (18%) led the candidates among those voters.
Castro has made Latino and immigrant issues a cornerstone of his campaign. His first trip as a presidential candidate this year was to a Latino summit in Puerto Rico, and he has highlighted changes he would make to Trump’s immigration policies.
Castro, who was raised in San Antonio by a Mexican American activist mother, was mayor for five years before being appointed U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary by President Barack Obama in 2014. He’s the identical twin brother of U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas.
The Castro campaign didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Being the only Latino presidential candidate doesn’t automatically equate to Latino voter support, said Ed Espinoza, executive director of Progress Texas, a nonprofit media organization supporting liberal causes. Candidates need to devote time to venture into Latino neighborhoods, he said.
“There’s a lot of admiration for Castro,” he said, “just not a lot of support.”
Latino voters are poised to have one of their biggest moments in U.S. political history with the 2020 presidential election. Next year will mark the first time Hispanics will be the largest racial or ethnic minority group in the electorate, accounting for more than 13% of eligible voters, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center.
About 32 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in 2020, compared with 30 million eligible black voters, according to the analysis.
Latino voter turnout has been historically questionable but lately trending up. Hispanic turnout jumped from 27 percentage points in the 2014 midterm elections to 40 percentage points in the 2018 midterm elections. Pollsters wonder if the trend will continue into the presidential election.
Latino voters could prove crucial not just in the general election but in the primaries. Latinos represent only 3.4% of eligible voters in Iowa, site of the first Democratic caucuses in February, but could play pivotal roles in other states with larger pools of Latino voters, such as Nevada (19%), Florida (20%) and Texas (30%).