HOST: Election day is barreling toward us and Latinos in California are expected to turn out in large numbers to vote. As KVCR’s Anthony Victoria reports, Latino voters in the Inland Empire say housing and the cost of living are top of mind.
(FOOTSTEPS AND CROSSTALK)
ANTHONY VICTORIA: On a recent Friday afternoon, 22-year-old Leo Lopez-Hernandez, who lives in Riverside, debriefs with a team of canvassers after knocking on doors in a Corona neighborhood. They’re with I-E United, a group trying to get progressives in the Inland Empire elected.
LEO LOPEZ HERNANDEZ: Right here, this is Sarina. This is Lawrence, right here, and then right there inside the car is Milo….
VICTORIA: Oh, nice. It’s good to meet y’all.
VICTORIA: Lopez-Hernandez has been hitting the streets, phone banking and talking to relatives about why he believes they should vote for candidates that support progressive policies.
LOPEZ-HERNANDEZ: We're trying to elect someone who is willing to fight for us, fight for working families in the region as well, trying to enact policies that will help reduce costs, making sure we have affordable care, affordable housing here in the region.
VICTORIA: A poll released by UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy last month found 80 percent of 227 Latinos surveyed in the Inland Empire say they’re struggling to afford housing and food. Jesse Melgar is with the Goldman School of Public Policy and co-authored the poll. He says politicians need to listen to what matters most to Latino voters. Issues like….
JESSE MELGAR: What does it mean to live a life where someone is being successful and thriving and has access to those basic needs, like housing, like food, like things like child care and elder care.
(ANTHONY GREETING AMANDA MORALES)
VICTORIA: 24-year-old Amanda Morales, who lives in Fontana, says middle-class Latino voters are struggling to choose between grocery shopping and filling their tanks. And she thinks Republicans are doing a better job on the economy.
AMANDA MORALES: I think people see that difference in their pocketbook, which is why I think Trump will be successful in November.
VICTORIA: Meanwhile, recent polling from the Latino Community Foundation… found more than 70 percent of Latinos support Democrats in California’s most competitive congressional races. Christian Arana is with the Foundation and says Latino voters support policies like a pathway to citizenship, tax credits for children and access to abortion.
CHRISTIAN ARANA: If the candidate has a more progressive position on those issues, then it seems like Latinos would probably more align themselves with the Democratic candidate than the Republican candidate.
VICTORIA: But Arana says twenty percent of Latino voters are STILL undecided in those deadlocked congressional races. And in the final stretch of this election season… the candidates are dashing to court these voters.
ARANA: Even though the data may seem that Democrats are doing a better job of outreach into the community, now's not a time for any party, any candidate to relent in that outreach.
VICTORIA Arana says Latinos have a lot of power in this election…And he encourages them to use it.
For KVCR News, I’m Anthony Victoria in Riverside.
