Hispanics make up only 1 percent of elected officials in the country, the Latino Victory Project said Tuesday when presenting an interactive map comparing this participation in local, regional and national politics with the respective Latino populations in the same jurisdictions.
“With more than 25 million Latinos eligible to vote in the United States, this district-by-district tool proves that in key regions, Latinos are flexing their voting muscle, but we still have a long way to go,” Cristobal Alex, president of Latino Victory Project, said.
Alex said that Hispanics make up only 1 percent of the close to 500,000 elected officials in the United States, though they represent more than 17 percent of the country’s population.
The organization, which seeks to spur Hispanic turnout at the polls, said the map will help it focus resources in areas where Hispanic candidates can win elections.
Latino Victory Project points out that “10 congressional districts, 17 state senate districts and 53 lower state house districts have majority-Latino populations but are not represented by a Latino.”
According to Alex, the organization seeks to use this map “to develop the tools necessary to track, target and invest in Latino candidates and communities.”
Latino Victory Project also noted the fact that nationwide only 40 of the 81 counties with a Latino majority have a majority of Latino elected officials.
At the same time, this organization, cofounded by actress Eva Longoria and Henry R. Muñoz III, said that up to now, no Latino woman has ever been elected to the U.S. Senate.
At present the highest-ranking Latino elected officials in the country are…
To read full article:http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/07/28/study-only-1-pct-us-elected-officials-are-hispanic/
