During the months of June and July, this column will explore the impact of Hispanic immigration in Los Angeles County's inner-city communities. This week's column is Part 2, and looks at the effects that Hispanics born in the U.S. have on electoral politics in formerly African-American population majority cities as compared to Hispanic voting patterns throughout the State.
Last week's column posed this Billion Dollar Question: Has the large numbers of children of Hispanic immigrants who are now adults and eligible California voters resulted in the election of more Hispanic city, county and state officials? In 2008, former Compton City Councilman Isadore Hall, III, was elected to the California State Assembly representing the city of Compton and East Compton, as well as places in the Florence-Graham area, Long Beach, and portions of Los Angeles County including Paramount and Willowbrook. Hall received more than 56% of the votes while the only Hispanic candidate, Diane Martinez, received only 15%. So far, there are no Hispanic-elected city officials serving on the Compton City Council. This year, the city of Compton's 4th District run-off election was between two African-American residents, Dr. Willie O. Jones and previously appointed Councilmember Amos Clay. Hispanic residents outnumbered African-American residents by 56% to 40% in the district, yet a very low voter run-off election turnout saw Jones walk away with 1,438 votes to Clay's 947, according to unofficial election results provided by the Compton City Clerk's office. Jones is scheduled to take office on July 1. On the Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees, there is one Hispanic member out of seven elected officials. In the city of Inglewood, there is only one Hispanic city elected council member.
On the other hand, in the nearby city of Lynwood, four of the five elected City Council members are Hispanic Americans who serve along with one white member. In the city of Los Angeles, Hispanic elected officials include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council members Richard Alarcon, Jose Huizar, Tony Cardenas and Ed Reyes. Also, Eric Garcetti, who also serves as president of the City Council, is half Latino and a member of the Latino Caucus. On the state level, there are 9 Latino State Senators and 17 Latino Assembly members, representing more than 20% of the Senate and just less than 20% of the Assembly. And there is one Latino on the County Board, which also comes to 20%.
According to these increases in the number of Hispanic elected officials, overall there has been a significant impact of large numbers of children of Hispanic immigrants who are now adults and eligible California voters that has resulted in the election of more Hispanic city, county and state officials.
On the national level, the Pew Hispanic Center conducted a study titled "Dissecting the 2008 Electorate: Most Diverse in U.S. History." The report revealed that "the nation's three biggest minority groups — Blacks, Hispanics and Asians — each accounted for unprecedented shares of the presidential vote in 2008." The electorate in last year's presidential election was the most racially and ethnically diverse in U.S. history, "with nearly one-in-four votes cast by non-whites," according to an analysis of Census Bureau. Overall, the Pell Hispanic Center study found that whites made up 76.3% of the record 131 million people who voted in November's presidential election, while blacks made up 12.1%, Hispanics 7.4% and Asians 2.5%. The white share is the lowest ever, yet is still higher than the 65.8% white share of the total U.S. population.
The study also revealed that "the levels of participation by African Americans and Hispanic eligible voters all increased from 2004 to 2008, reducing the voter participation gap between themselves and White eligible voters. For Hispanics, participation levels also increased, with the voter turnout rate rising 2.7 percentage points, from 47.2% in 2004 to 49.9% in 2008. The increased diversity of the electorate was also driven by population growth, especially among Latinos. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of Latino eligible voters rose from 16.1 million in 2004 to 19.5 million in 2008, or 21.4%. Similarly, the share of eligible voters who were Black increased from 11.6% in 2004 to 11.8% in 2008. The population growth and increased voter participation among African Americans and Latinos members increased the number of votes cast in 2008 [more] than in 2004. Two million more African Americans and 2 million more Latinos reported voting in 2008 than the same in 2004.
So, if there are 2 million more Latinos reported voting in 2008 then in 2004 what is the answer to my "billion dollar question" concerning why the children of Hispanic immigrants who are now eligible California voters have resulted in the election of more Hispanic city, county and state officials? According to a Pew Hispanic Center 2007 analysis of new U.S. Census data, the answer to my questions is simple: "A high percentage of the new Hispanics in the population are either too young to vote or ineligible because they are not citizens."
Next week's View from the Streets will examine "the need for comprehensive immigration reform for Hispanics and other immigrants who are seeking to become American citizens.
Related article:
* Hispanic Immigrants Flood African American Neighborhoods Creating Tense Racial Times
Ronald Ellerbe is editor of Hub City News and columnist for LA Beez.
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