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Familia politics

There are some political goings on in nuestra familia. New advocacy groups are coalescing, pushes are being made for Hispanic votes, and debate swirls for and against collecting Arizona bucks for Califas politicos.

First, the results are in from the Valley’s east side. Ben Arredondo kept his seat on the Tempe City Council, and Pat Esparza lost her bid for a seat on the Mesa City Council.

Tempe voters showed themselves to be more liberal, as can be expected from a university town. Mesa voters showed themselves to be politically just right of Mars. J.T. Ready, a member of an Arizona vigilante group, had a shootout in the streets shortly before the election, and allowed that the firefight would probably help him with Mesa voters. He was right, of course. He pulled more votes than Esparza, a member of a family with generations of roots in Mesa, and a member of Mesa government committees and civic boards. Maybe a rifle rack in your vehicle would attract more votes next time, Pat.

In other political news from nuestra familia, Rosie Lopez, a former candidate for Phoenix City Council, has created Latina Democrats. The women announced the new organization in March at the state Democratic headquarters in Phoenix.

Rosie says the new group was "designed to empower Latinas to become more involved in all aspects of the political process." She says it was time for Democratas to band together, seeing as how Latinas are gaining power economically. For more information on Latina Democrats, contact Rosie at (602) 272-6102; or via e-mail at jermlopez@cox.net.

If you’re wondering whether Republican Latinas have their own group, Alice Lara of the Arizona Latino Republican Association says no, but, "We are very organized as women." She and other Latinas are members of the Central Republican Women’s Club. Lara also helped organize Republican Committee National Chairman Ken Mehlman’s Phoenix outreach event to Arizona Hispanics in March.

There’s other Dem developments. Francisco Heredia, Hispanic outreach field organizer for Arizona Democratic Party, says www.azlatinodems.org, the new Latino Democrats Web site, is now live. Walks, phone banks, news and a Latino elected officials list are available.

"With our vision of becoming more visible in the Latino community and having more people active in the political process, the Democratic Party has committed itself for the long haul to provide consistent outreach in our Latino community," he says.

Mi Familia Vota, a Washington, D.C.- based political action organization for Latinos, hit the Valley in March.

Mi Familia was founded by the People for the American Way Foundation, a left-leaning political advocacy group founded by Norman Lear. Mi Familia Arizona campaign coordinators say they aim to register 60,000 Latinos by the end of April. They say their mission is nonpartisan.

Because some in nuestra familia still believe "Latino" is synonymous with "Democrat" and "liberal," Ruben Alvarez, a Republican and Grand Old Party booster, reminds Democrats and other good liberals that a fair number of those Hispanics registered by MFV will register in the GOP ranks.

"Now, with our changing population and new generations, our people have different points of view and different perspectives," says Alvarez, a partner in the Molera Alvarez Group in Phoenix.

Other family conversations around town centered on Califas politicos fundraising in Arizona. Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles City Council member, and Democrat candidate for the California state senate, was in town in March to pass the basket for campaign bucks. Padilla’s fundraiser was a nonpartisan affair organized by Mario Diaz, a Democrat and Ruben Alvarez, among others. Two similar money raisers for then L.A. mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa raised about $50,000 for the Cali candidate, who went on to win the election.

The question was raised that state Latino candidates have a hard enough time raising funds without siphoning bucks to California. Alvarez says that the fundraisers for out-of-state Latino politicians are intended to forge ties to Latino rising stars that could one day hold national office. Time now to set the relationships that could open doors for Arizona’s needs in the future, he says.

It’s all good, Alvarez says.

"What the Latina Democrats are doing, Mi Familia Vota, all are healthy for our community. We are going to benefit from having more participation politically and being more visible. We are one big family, we just have different viewpoints."