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Stacey Abrams
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Stacey Abrams
Welcome to Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams from Crooked Media, I'm your host Stacey Abrams. Today's episode is a deep dive into the power of Latino voters, how Democrats lost ground in 2024, how Trump and the Republican regime's economic and immigration agendas could reshape the landscape yet again, and what Democrats need to do to step up and truly meet Latino voters where they are. But today is also the constitutionally mandated State of the Union address, where propaganda about crippling tariffs, stolen freedoms coming, voter suppression, and the terrorizing of immigrants and citizens alike will be sugarcoated or worse, celebrated. In fact, this will highlight one of the looming fights over immigration that will not be honestly addressed on Tuesday night, but will be coming to a town near you Across America, at least 20 communities have become targets for massive ICE detention centers, warehouses that are being converted into makeshift prisons where for migrants, people who may not have committed any crime at all and will not get due process before they are sent there. We know this Republican regime has weaponized fear in 2024 and 2025 and in 2026 to justify an inhumane attack on anyone in America that could be suspected of being an immigrant. But rather than focus on a law enforcement target or methodically addressing the concerns of community security, Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, they have all led a terror campaign that uses immigration as a fig leaf for racialized deportation. But between seizures by masked ICE agents and expulsion to foreign nations, most have never seen, America is in the grips of a homegrown humanitarian crisis that deserves our attention. Recently, ProPublica reported on the child endangerment camp known as the Dilley Immigration Processing Center. Like its international counterparts, within Dilley's gates, the laws of human decency have been suspended. Yet ICE and Homeland Security are spending $38.33 billion of what should be health care and education investments and are instead being deployed towards the rapidly growing industry of detention centers and makeshift prisons. Right here in my state in Georgia, ICE has managed to find a topic that unites the left and the right in a town called Social Circle. Social Circle is a town of about 5,000 people where a proposed mega center immigration prison is expected to house anywhere from 7,500 to 10,000 detainees, roughly double the population of the town. And yet, in the midst of this horror and inhumanity, local communities are speaking up and they are applying pressure. And it's working. In Kansas City, Ashland, Virginia, Oklahoma City, Bahalia, Missouri, and Salt Lake City, Utah, potential sites for immigration prison camps have been rebuffed and stopped. I want to lift that up because it's important that we count these victories where we find them. It's important that we understand what they are trying to do. And it's important to know that we have a role to play. No, stopping it in five cities is not nearly enough. Not when children are begging to go home and to go to school and where we have more than 1700 children who may be malnourished and exposed to the measles in an American prison camp. Not when we have 73 to 74% of people in ICE detention centers without criminal convictions. No, it's not enough. But it's a start. Because, you see, America hasn't had mass prison camps since the shameful decision to set up internment camps. To hold Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants alike. We've done this before. And despite the adage we don't have to repeat our worst histories, we can do better, but we have to do it together. And we have to know that it has to be done for those inside and outside our borders. You see, this is not a Latino issue or a black issue. It's not an Afghani issue or a Haitian issue. This is an issue of who we intend to be as Americans. This is not progressive or conservative. This is right versus wrong. This is humanity versus inhumanity. And this is now. What we are facing is an American crisis. And we are all responsible, every one of us. But we can do something about it. To help us start to reclaim our country and reclaim our souls, we need all hands on deck, and Latino engagement will be critical. Joining me today are two experts on Latino voting patterns, issue identification and strategy. We're being joined by Chuck Rocha, the founder and president of Solidarity Strategies, and Clarissa Martinez de Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at Unidos us. Chuck Rocha and Clarissa Martinez de Castro. Welcome to Assembly Required.
Chuck Rocha
Thanks for having us.
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
Thank you for having us.
Stacey Abrams
So let's start with some definitions. We know that the terms Latino and Hispanic are often used interchangeably, but they are not identical. So, Chuck, I'm gonna start with you. When we talk about polling, when we hear people talk about the electorate, how should our listeners understand Hispanic and Latino as distinct communities, or should they?
Chuck Rocha
I think of it as a melting pot. There's so many different diasporas of folks who've come to this country, country from all over the world, and they all look at themselves, some in unique ways and some as a lot. But it's very important for folks to know that the majority of all Hispanics or Latinos in America have some Mexican origin, over 60%. So no matter where you're at, it depends what state you're in, what municipality you're in, where you're at geographically in the country. Most of which, if you look at all the folks throughout the all the Census data, almost 65% are all from Mexico. Their parents, my grandparents, are from Mexico. And then I bring into something very unique as well. Let's think about my family. I have a son who's 35 years old. His mom is white. His name is Rocha. He's Latino. I got two grandsons, Wyatt and Ro and Rocha, the light of my life. Their mama was white. They're Rocha, they're Latino. My father, whose both parents were Mexican, as Rocha so you see how this melting pot starts to happen. To think about if you're from the Dominican Republic, if you're from Puerto Rico, which is part of America, so all depending on where you're at, there's a large melting pot where it's not one size fits all. So when I refer to the Latino vote, I talk about Latino voters more so than our vote as a whole.
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
One thing I would add, because I know many of us are like, I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing or calling people something that they might not identify with. Here's an interesting fact. Indeed, Latinos in America are a very diverse population. But the great thing is that there's also a great deal of affinity that is shared in the community and in its electorate on top priorities. Where it comes to what do we call ourselves? We at Unidos us, the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, do use Latino and Hispanic interchangeably when it happens. When it comes to people. One of the things that we have asked our community, particularly voters, okay, which term do you identify more? And not only Latino and Hispanic, but others. So the majority of Latinos in the US Prefer the term Hispanic. And that is true whether people are of Mexican origin, Cuban, Puerto Rican, whether they're in the east, west, north or south, whether they're young, young or more seasoned, male or female. So Hispanic is a preferred term, but they are used interchangeably. And I think very few, if anyone, would find either of those offensive. The other thing that's interesting about Hispanics, because usually people talk about us when there's talk about immigration, right? And for a very long time, if politicians bothered to come and court Latino voters, they thought that was all they needed to talk about. Well, here's another important little point, and that is that in the United States, out of every 10 Hispanics, eight are United States citizens. And I say that because a lot of people think that the majority of Latinos are not only immigrant, but are undocumented and cannot vote. The reality is 8 out of 10 are United States citizens.
Stacey Abrams
And Clarissa, how many people are we talking about when we are describing the Latino voting bloc in the U.S. there
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
are over 60 million Latinos in the U.S. today. Depending on which stat you look at, it could be 66 million, 63. We are a very young population. Every year, approximately 1 million Latino US citizens turn 18 and become eligible to register to vote. That's why in every major general election, about one fifth of Latinos who are voting in that election doing so for the first time, which means Since I know talking about Latino positions and some of the fluidities we're seeing is that these folks don't have a solid party formation or affiliation. We are a young population. In 2024, around 16 and a half million Latinos voted. And that even though we increased, that was a smaller increase that we've seen in previous years. And I know Chuck is going to talk about this, but Latinos are the quintessential swing voter as we are looking at racers and margins and they are present in a number of districts that are competitive for the balance of power in Congress and also key Senate and governor races.
Stacey Abrams
I just want to put that number into context, that generational number you described. If every two years there are a million new potential voters. So in a four year cycle, you have more than covered the spread of the distance between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in 2024.
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
Correct. And that's another important thing. You look at the headlines from 2024, I've seen headlines that say Latinos delivered X state for Trump. Yes, Trump managed to increase support among every population and that very much included Latinos. But it's important to remember that in every state, except perhaps Florida, the majority of Hispanics actually did not end up supporting President Trump, which is both an alarm bell for Republicans and hopefully for Democrats as well.
Stacey Abrams
When we come back, more from my conversation with Chuck and Clarissa. Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams is brought to you by Strawberry Me. Let me ask you something. You think our Olympic athletes end up on the world's biggest stage by guessing? No. They had coaching. I grew up watching football, baseball and basketball and I know every pro athlete has a specialized coach watching their form, calling the plays and finding the blind spots they can't see themselves. That is exactly how they win championships. So why are you trying to win in your career without a coach? You're grinding away, hoping for a promotion, trying to guess the right moves. Now is the time to level up your game. You need a strategist. You need Strawberry Me. Strawberry Me matches you to a professional career coach who breaks down your plays and and plots the next move. They help you negotiate that raise, navigate the politics and execute a game plan that actually works. And the cost? Well, think about it. One raise, one promotion, and this coaching can pay for itself. That's the best ROI in the game. So stop riding the bench in your own life. Go to Strawberry Me assembly today and get 50% off your first coaching session. Strawberry Me. Because pros don't guess. They get coached to win. Assembly required with Stacey Abrams is Brought to you by bookshop.org where you shop for Books Matters. When you purchase from bookshop.org you're supporting more than 2,500 local independent bookstores across the country. Independent bookstores do more than sell books. They take care of and they pour back into their communities, creating spaces that foster culture, curiosity, and a love of reading. And with Bridgerton and heated rivalry hitting the small screen and captivating hearts, it's a timely reminder that your next fix is already on the page waiting for you. As a romantic suspense novelist myself, I can tell you, regardless of your love story of choice, romance novels and their many subgenres have something for everyone. And as you explore all the possibilities, bookshop.org has you covered. So cozy up with a good book and a vivid imagination and let the pages take you away. Use Code assembly to get 10% off your next order@bookshop.org that's code assembly to get 10% off of your next order@bookshop.org so Clarissa and Chuck, we know that Latino voters, like black voters, like most communities of color, hold a range of political and ideological beliefs. And despite the shorthand, there isn't a monolithic approach to politics. There might be some similarity in voting because we know that, like other racial and ethnic voting blocs, there is a tendency for people to think that we all have the same ideology. And it's grounded in a bit of a truth, which is that race and ethnicity are the strongest predictors of political leanings in the United States. It doesn't mean we all believe the same thing, but we tend to lean in the same direction because of the policies in this country. And I think, Clarissa, this goes to your point about just how many Latinos actually voted in this last election for Trump versus Harris, who voted Democrat versus Republican. But it's, I think, important for us to understand the nuances and the differences that shape that thinking and how that feeds into what turns into political affiliation at the ballot box. And so, Clarissa, I'm gonna start with you. Can you share about how diversity within the Latino community you believe impacts voting behavior from race and country of origin to generation? And you've alluded to some of this, but what have traditionally been the issues that animate the voters that you're talking to?
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
Well, and this very much relates to the last couple of presidential election cycles, I think it's fair to say, and this is also not just with Latinos, that economic discontent helped President Biden beat Trump, and then economic discontent helped Trump beat Biden. And indeed, that economic discontent is what fueled much of the gains that Republicans were able to make with Latino voters, particularly men, There are group differences. Perhaps the most reference is with Cuban voters that tend to be, although not alone, but they tend to be solidly grounded in Florida and who tend to be more conservative, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, tend to be more, if you use that term, progressive. But we are also seeing that among younger generations, and this is true with other cohorts of voters too, there is a greater tendency to register as independent and to be a little bit cynical about the political parties and system. And so because that is the biggest growth we're seeing in the Latino electorate, an electorate that, by the way, doesn't get a lot of very intense inconsistent outreach from candidates and parties, then you can anticipate that that fluidity may be even more generally speaking, historically, once it's all said and done in an election, about 2/3 of Latino support ends up on the Democratic column and about one third on the Republican column. That has been the norm. So when you see things go higher or lower on either side, that is a sign that there's some movement happening and something that Republicans and Democrats should heed.
Stacey Abrams
Well, Chuck, you and I first got to know each other when I was working to expand Latino voting power in Georgia, first through voter registration and then through targeted turnout efforts. I was the first statewide candidate to ever run Spanish language ads, and that was 2018. But you and I also know it worked. We were able to triple Latino turnout in the state of Georgia and increase that number such that it remains one of the biggest targets for any candidate running here in the state. What do you wish more politicians and consultants understood about state level engagement of Latino voters and about Latino non voters?
Chuck Rocha
I think you proved in your campaign, and folks have learned from that, and Clarissa talks about this a lot as well, is that you have to put the investment in to actually have the conversation. If you just leave a Latino voter just like a black voter or a white suburban voter out there to make up their own mind, they're going to consume information where they can. And if they don't have this great job and they're working several jobs, it's hard to consume information or know what's true because you're just trying to live every day with a lot of white suburban voters that have swung back and forth. We have spent an enormous amount of money as a Democratic Party to talk to them and try to persuade them back from being. You've heard of the soccer moms and then all, all the other accolades. That's went on for years and investments of tens of billions of dollars. Well, because folks in lots of parties, black or brown, with Democrats or Republicans, they had preconceived notions black people will always vote for us. Latinos don't show up like all of these tropes that just aren't true. We've had to break through those cycles. You let a lot of that in 2018. Folks have learned from it. But we're far from where we need to be. Because what Clarissa was talking about is now the Latino vote, because of its fluidity within the partisan scales, have truly become a up for grabs vote to where now both parties are trying to read into what they can think they need to do to win this elusive vote because it's such a difference maker in the particular places where they need to win. One thing that we should all stop as we think about the Latino vote and say the most important piece hasn't been talked about, which is 70% of all Latino voters in America live in five states. And the five states are Texas, Florida, New York, California and Illinois. Big social centers in Chicago, New York, Louisiana, Miami. In those races. If you think about it for all of your listeners at home who are as big a nerds as all three of us are, they know that there's not been really big elections in those states in a long time. Those are not presidential battleground states. So guess what? They don't get any of that funding. So that Latino voter gets some information from its local candidates. To your point, Stacey, or a very good statewide candidate maybe. But that statewide can is probably underfunded and there's not really a general election because if it's Florida, it's probably a safe Republican seat since our brother Andrew ran down there and lost or has been any real investment and I'd argue there wasn't enough for him. Or in New York or California where there's going to be this great battle to try to tell Latinos what you're going to do to make their life better. So when you see a national poll done with all Latinos nationwide, you're talking to 70% of them who've never heard from any candidate or any organization unless they're tied to an organization on the ground like Unidos or somebody else. So you have this, this, this, this lack of information because we're so targeting and running those ads in a small little group of people. Thank God Georgia's there now. Or a congressional race. Is there. Or a Senate race. If you're not in a targeted congressional race or Senate race going into these midterms right now, you're not going to be talked to at any, any level from any campaign because it's a midterm election in just those places. And then when you. And I'll finish my diatribe here. How about that diatribe? Anyway, when I, when you get to that point, if you have a group of well meaning white consultants who have a master's degree and probably wrote a thesis paper on the engagement of black voters or how to get Latinos to vote, they just don't understand the cultural competency to show up in a neighborhood and do the right things to actually deliver that vote. To Clarissa's point, to talk about economic opportunity, to talk about your real struggles and not just show up in a black community and talk about criminal justice reform or show up in a Latino community and talk about immigration, this is the point that we have to make to really push our party.
Stacey Abrams
So I'm going to come back to you in a second, Chuck, because I want to talk about the practical things we can do. But before we do that, Clarissa, can you walk us through Unidos us work with the Hispanic Electorate Data Hub and the Latino Vote Initiative and how that ties in to what Chuck's alluding to?
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
Absolutely. So Unidos was founded in 1968, and back then we were National Council of Barraza. The reason I go back all the way to that is because when we started, a lot of the work we did was research to kind of get people to understand the Hispanic community. And so fast forward to now, so many years later, and with a population more than 60 million strong, there's still a lot of misconceptions and mistaken assumptions, particularly about the Latino electorate. So we created the Hispanic Electorate Data Hub. It's a site where people can go look at polls across the years. You can look at how have top priorities changed or not, and you can look at whether there are differences in those priorities, whether by gender or age or income level. By the way, the majority of the Hispanic community is working class. They're an integral part of the American working class and the economic engine of the country. We also have there the data about the number of Latinos who are registered and voted for the last 20 years at the state level and in the last couple of years at the congressional district level, because we know that's getting super hot. And part of the idea there is to try to educate people to dispel those misconceptions. Immigration is a perfect example. And I'll get to that one abortion was another perfect example. People assume that because Latinos are family and faith oriented that they were solidly against abortion. The reality is that the majority of Latinos, regardless of their personal opinion, don't think that it should be illegal or that the government should tell people what to do, which is what matters from a policy perspective on immigration the top priority for usually there have been times when immigration goes up, but usually the top priorities are pocketbook issues right now cost of living, which has been exacerbated by people navigating all the challenges during the pandemic which hit Latinos and black communities disproportionately. That doesn't mean that immigration doesn't matter. And particularly given the abuses of power and overreach and abuses of civil rights and civil liberties that people are seeing right now. Actually, the two factors most shaping Hispanic voter views about the president and his performance numbers are down are economic issues and immigration, deportations and enforcement actions.
Stacey Abrams
So, Chuck, I'm going to come back to you because part of what I want to do on the show today is move from the polling to what polling should mean with the people. And a lot of the work that you have done with Solidarity Strategies has really been about that translations matrix. And as you pointed out, you've got well meaning consultants who in the last 90 days of a campaign are full of magic beans. What I want to know, and I'm going to start with you, Chuck, and then come back to you, Clarissa. We know that there are a lot of folks who are priming themselves to run in 2028. What should they be doing now to start curating and cultivating for a 2028 electorate that, as Clarissa pointed out, is going to have, you know, at that point, you know, four times the number of Latino eligible voters that we had in 2024. What should they be doing? What are the practical things that you wish candidates who call you would actually listen to you tell them to do?
Chuck Rocha
Let's start with hiring a bunch of folks from the community. You gotta hire folks who look like the people you want to go get. It always starts there with me. Your campaign managers, your consultants. They should have some tie to understand this, this economic message that I bet you as a candidate want to get out to people. If you hire the same old consultants who've done the same old things, you can get the same old results. I wrote a book after the Bernie Sanders campaign because folks said, how did you get all these Latinos to vote for an old white Democratic socialist from Vermont with a Brooklyn accent? And I said, well, it wasn't about putting him on TV commercials, I can promise you that. The way we did it. And these are the three things you should do. And I tell every campaign this, I open sourced it in that book so that please God somebody would read this thing and take from me. So the first three things are start earlier than you ever think you need to start talking to people earlier, especially with Latinos, to Clarissa's point, because we're on average of almost 15 years younger than the average voter at when we show up just because of our newer to this country's demographic. So start earlier and then show up where they're at digitally on their phone, at their door. So just start earlier than that consultant will tell you. That consultant will tell you. People only really pay attention in the last three months or the last six months if you start a regular communication and build trust. You can do what I'm gonna do with the second point. Start earlier. And then the second point is, as Democrats and Republicans, we've macro targeted ourselves into talking to almost nobody. And what I mean by that is these consultants are taught how to run a campaign by looking at a voter file and overlaying a partisan model with a turnout model and coming up with this small little universe of who I think is the most exponential for us to actually talk to, to when we need to talk to everybody. And you need to expand the target. So start earlier. And the second thing is expand your target not to just regular primary vote. Is if Texas primary early vote is teaching us anything right now, open your eyes and look at that. Is that almost 40% of everybody that's voted so far in the Texas primary have no primary history of voting.
Stacey Abrams
Exactly.
Chuck Rocha
That means they're just pissed and they're showing up. These candidates aren't talking to them. I will promise you, as somebody who's run campaigns for 36 years, somebody who didn't have a primary voting history, was not on a mailing target list to get a piece of mail. They're showing up anyway. So Texas is proving right now, if you'll expand that target, throw away the partisan model, throw away the turnout model. And to your point, Stacey, your organization in Georgia started this many, many years ago is talk to everybody, knock on their door, have a conversation. And if you start early enough, you can actually get that, even though your consultant will say, well, that's not efficient, it's not enough return on investment. We can't really do it that way. Well, bullshit. The third thing is cultural competency. That's the last piece of this, it wasn't Bernie Sanders out selling Bernie Sanders to Latino caucus goers in Nevada. It was 100 Latino activists that I'd hired on the ground that were going door to door and doing distributed phone calls and knocking on the doors and TV commercials and radio commercials. One of the things we did that I wrote in the book that was writt really crazy and consultants all told me I was crazy, is I bought daytime Spanish language advertising for six months, again, starting early, expanding the target in Las Vegas. When your consultant would tell you, democratic candidate, you only do morning drive time and evening drive time, because that's all they've ever known to reach white suburban voters who are driving into a city to work when they didn't realize that that Latino worker all day long, while he's working on a roof or working in a hotel room cleaning it or doing whatever menial job that they hate, are plugged into the Spanish radio station all day long. And I'm having a conversation, and it cost me nickels on the dollar.
Stacey Abrams
Chuck, tell us the name of your book so everybody can go and buy it.
Chuck Rocha
T o' Bernie.
Stacey Abrams
So, Clarissa, why is it important then, based on what Chuck is saying, why is it important that we start building a class of Latino political operatives who can authentically engage with these communities? Because one of the challenges we had in Georgia, and this is true across the board, and it was one of the goals that I had as minority leader. My very first day as minority leader, I realized that I had done what so many like me who had done before, even though I was the first black person to have the job. I hired black and brown white people. And so I picked up the phone and called Galeo and said, can you send me someone from the Latino community? Because I cannot be the minority leader for the state of Georgia and not acknowledge the growing population. And that began a process that we called the Blue Institute, where we started training black and Latino and Asian American political operatives. I don't know that this is happening more broadly. I know Chuck is doing what he can, but, Clarissa, can you talk about why it is so important that we have, in addition to the data, we have the political operatives who can use that data?
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
I think. I think you used the word right on authenticity. Right? Voters can smell somebody who is inauthentic a mile away. And so not every candidate is going to be able to say that they are from a particular community. But candidates build teams that reflect who matters to them. And voters are not dumb. They say, do I see myself in this team or am I reflected in this platform? Authenticity is a major thing. Lived experience to understand where communities are coming from and understand therefore different ways in which people may be experiencing a particular moment. For example, yes, cost of living is top of mind for almost everyone in the country, right. But for Latinos, housing has been a huge piece of that way before it registered with the electorate as a whole. This has been going on for years and that is because of many in our community. And I think this is true of the black working class. Like your biggest output of that, of that salary you have or that income income you're getting, it's going to be towards rent. And when that's squeezing you, everything else gets squeezed. I think that making sure that we are nurturing talent and creating opportunities because we have talent, sometimes it's just hard to break through in some spaces that have not looked like us before. And I think as we are seeing more of that you in campaign that truly put a team together that reflect the voters they care about and who support they're trying to get you see the results. And the crazy thing is that because many of our communities have been neglected, candidates get points for actually showing up. That's part of the story we heard in South Texas. Everybody loved to talk about this shift in South Texas. Texas, while people in the community were saying, we've been Democrats forever, we haven't even gotten a robocall, we've actually gotten door knocks from the Republican side. Even though we are like lifelong Democrats, they were showing up. Right.
Stacey Abrams
So, Chuck, building on Clarissa's point, it's clear that Latino voters right now are pulling away from Donald Trump and from Republicans in this authoritarian new world we live in. But what does that actually mean for Democrats? Do you think this is a shift towards the Democratic Party? Are Latino voters simply disengaging? Or to Clarissa's point, is it something that we just haven't seen before and how do we take advantage of it?
Chuck Rocha
People are really upset and I think if again we'll go back to the Texas early vote numbers. This is not hyperbolic. You just can just look at all of these new people showing up because this is a way for them to act in, out. So Democrats have always taken the easy road. As the Democrat here, I'm saying this as a very partisan, that Democrats do a good job at saying we're not Donald Trump, we won't be like Donald Trump. And we're not. And we're not like this authoritarian state that you see what we've done a bad job at and I would say again, because these well meaning consultants is that we don't do a very good job to show up and take a little risk or to say what we really want to do to make their lives better. Because the consultant will say, man, we can get there by just not being Donald Trump and not being an asshole like those guys are when people are hungry for results. They were so hungry, to Clarissa's point at this Texas Valley, so hungry and desperate for somebody to listen to them that they would give Donald Trump a chance. Not all of them, but a chunk of them and reasonably a lot of them in the Texas Valley and around Miami back in the day be like, that guy's crazy, but at least he's not in the system that's screwing me every single day. So they're looking for the Democrats and Democrats have an opening right now. That opening won't always be there, but they see some really bad shit going on and we should say a again, this is fine. We're not that and we're not going to be that. And here's our vision for that hope and housing and health care that you really want. Hope, housing and health care. That's where Latinos are. Sure, they don't like the iced up, sure, they want democracy, sure, abortion, this and that, it's all good. But they need housing and they want health care and they want some hope to aspire to be people. Think about Latinos and how young we are. We still don't know no better. That means we're very aspirational. We still feel like we can get there. That's why the highest demographic of entrepreneurship is with Latinos. We're younger, we're starting businesses because we still feel like my grandparents and other grandmothers who came here, that we can accomplish that. And Democrats have stopped talking that way. And around work and the sanctity of work and work being whether you're a middle management, selling cars, working in a ditch, a nurse, whatever your thing is, we all have to work. And because we skew so much more middle class, we're having to work jobs. That ain't maybe the greatest. When's the last time you heard a Democrat? Since you and a few others actually talk about work and what it means to be a worker and the dignity of work, going back to a Dick Gephardt or God bless his soul, Jesse Jackson, who started all this back in 84. That's the way we got to go back to talking to Democratic voters if we want to win more.
Stacey Abrams
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Clarissa Martinez de Castro
In some ways it's similar to what Chuck was saying about what's happening in Texas. A lot of times Latino voters are reacting based on what they're seeing and what they're experiencing, not necessarily because There is a candidate or campaign that is inspiring them to do so. There is no question that on immigration, the majority of Hispanic, Hispanic voters, the top priority when it comes to immigration is legalization for the long reciting undocumented people who, other than having come in and not having papers, which is a civil offense, which has been increasingly criminalized. If they're law abiding and are doing everything else that they need to do to contribute to their families and communities, Latinos believe, and the majority of their families, fellow Americans, that there should be a path of legality. Guess what? This president was able to get a pass or even support from voters where it comes to immigration because of the chaos we were witnessing at the border. And it is important to acknowledge that the Biden administration, the approach on immigration for a very long part of its administration was to try to avoid. In that vacuum, Republicans were able to define what Democrats wear on immigration and to take the upper hand. And indeed, Latino voters said they heard more about this issue from Republicans than from Democrats. But the point is that voters were seeing chaos and they didn't want that. They wanted order. So they felt like, okay, this guy is talking about order, let's see if he can do it. Well, the problem is that right now what voters are seeing is that that chaos is spreading across the country, doubled down with abuse of authority in violations of civil rights and civil liberties. Now, Latinos are feeling this in the flesh. Long before the murders. We saw more recently where we have seen Latino USA citizens stopped and detained because ICE officers disregarded completely. They're saying they were US Citizens or didn't care and put them in detention even without a phone call, their families knowing where they were. We've had members of the Latino community shot and that is in this period. We have more than 40% of Latino US citizens voters who say in their communities people are afraid that they're going to get stopped and detained and arrested, even if they're U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. So the sentiment of economic insecurity that a lot in the community had been feeling is now also getting turning into personal a threat to personal safety and that of their families. For me, as an immigrant to this country, I want to see a system that works, but we are nowhere near that. And I think that in some ways Latino voters have heard from Democrats that they are going to get immigration reform done this time for real. This time for real for more than 20 years. And I think people got tired of it. But they are also not okay with what's happening right now. And that sometimes what gets misrepresented, that Latinos are becoming more anti immigrant. I think that they are not on board with this.
Stacey Abrams
So we know that we have a pathway. We know that there are things that should be done. And we're going to take advice from Chuck Rocha and we are going to do this work early. We're going to take advice from Clarissa Martinez and we're going to show up and do broad sweeps. But then there's the practical reality of an authoritarian playbook that is designed to block voices from being heard. Step 10 in the authoritarian playbook is that you defeat democracy. You destroy democracy, not by declaring martial law, but by making it impossible for democracy to work. We saw that play out with the redistricting that started in Texas and very strategically targeted Latino voters and black voters and spread across the country. We have heard talk from various Republicans that ICE will be at the polls during the midterms, which is designed to specifically dissuade voters from showing up. It was even threatened during the California special election on redistricting. We know that when Republicans weaponize the specter of non existent voter fraud, people who are legitimately allowed to vote decide it's not worth the risk. And so I'd love for you both and I'll start with you, Clarissa, and then go to you, Chuck. How will this complicate getting Latino voters to show up, even those who are legally entitled and have all of the paperwork? We know that in Georgia, voter suppression has not just a physical effect, it has a psychic effect on voters. How do you think this will affect Latino voters in 26 heading into 28?
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
Stacy, I'll add to your list, particularly with young populations, with many folks coming of age and needing to register, let's not forget that folks are also tinkering with the voter registration process or the ability of third parties to help voters register. Because let's face it, voter registration has been largely done by none partisan organizations. And now some Republicans in Congress are trying to shut that down because they know that is a way that a lot of folks in our communities actually get registered when they come of age. So it starts from trying to make sure there are not that many folks joining the pool of voters. Then there's voter purges, which we've seen in different places that eliminate eligible voters from the polls. And then the intimidation tactics you are talking about. For us, the main thing is to be proactive. We do nonpartisan voter registration and also nonpartisan get out the vote. One of the things we lean on is I like to think almost like what is a little thing that you pick up and put on your fridge because it has a lot of useful information. That's how we approach. The information we send is basically, here's one sheet in English and in Spanish that has everything you need if you're going to vote on election day when the polls are open, if you have vote by mail and encourage people that if they have vote by mail or early vote, to take advantage of that. Where to call if they've run into other issues, in any issues, whether they're benign or nefarious, so that people feel that they are not alone in this process. I think that is the most important thing. Voting can feel like a very lonely act, right? It's you and the voting booth. Our community is very social. I can tell you that even to this day when I go vote, I don't go by myself. So we encourage people to go together to be support for each other and to have the information they need so that if anybody tries to prevent their ability to cast that vote that they are able to call and get support.
Stacey Abrams
Chuck, what do you think we should be doing differently and how are you thinking about what's going to happen?
Chuck Rocha
I think that the elected officials have to take a stronger stand, to stand up. Sure, a lot of them are doing speeches and all the things, but in their local community, that and community based organizations are the key. Clarissa just hit on the part about the importance of an organization like hers that's nonpartisan. You can call, you can figure it out, but you also need elected leaders to have your back. And we didn't talk about this, Stacey, but it's probably the biggest reason why there's not more representation of black, Latino and other working class people in the senior levels of campaigns. We've now realized as a party the importance of the black voter and the Latino voter. And you've seen the parties and the party supported super PACs start moving in that direction because hey, they realize not only is it good, but it helps us win elections. And this Latino vote is starting to slip, this black vote starting to slip. So if you look at the party committees, the dccc, the dscc, House Majority pac, Senate Majority pac, those four organizations employ more black and Latino consultants than anybody in the country combined because they know and they lean in and there's a black consultant and a Latino consultant and for that matter an Asian consultant helping them work with, communicating with folks on the ground. But once you get past that, and this is my point, and nobody talks about this, is that you lose all representation when you get down to that local congressional candidate or. Or that local Senate candidate. Because proximity to that elected is power. And there's places where our community steal has not positioned itself because of the good old boy or good old girl system to be that close to the candidate. Unless it's somebody like you, Stacey, which is a very much an anomaly, not the norm. Most of the candidates out there trying to do the right things, but they don't know who to hire. Whatever. I don't think they're bad people. But what I do know, because I do this research, is there's nothing a senior black person or Latino person telling them, we should be in the community. We should be having these conversations, not just spending money, advertising. Of course, that's easy, but you should do that too, of explaining to that Latino voter that it's okay, it's safe, you can call, we'll be there. Here's that little thing you put on your refrigerator from my campaign. Like, that's the piece that we miss. And it never happens ever. Because at the candidate level, there is no representation at all. And I mean that. I'm not trying to be too dramatic or Chuck wrote, you're getting crazy. It's just the fact the parties have figured this out and I work for them. And I'm happy to work for the D trip and Senate majority. I got a lot of privilege now. But we don't work for one single House race. We get to work for Ruben Gallego because he was my buddy and Ruben's doing it right. And there's others like that that you can hand pick out. But we shouldn't be looking for that one race here or there. There should be representation for us all over. So the thing that Clarissa's talking about is coming from her community organization and being reinforced by an elected official.
Stacey Abrams
Okay. Much more when we come back.
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Stacey Abrams
Chuck. I mean, boldpac, which is the Congressional Hispanic Caucus's campaign army, they just launched their digital first initiative called Ruido to mobilize Latino content creators. And that includes the rising star, Carlos Eduardo Espina. And so there's a conversation happening on the messenger side. Do you see a similar conversation happening on the operative side? And if not, how do we close that gap that you're defining?
Chuck Rocha
I think a big part of that has to do with just with money. Like the consultants that I work with every day. There's no way to make their 15% off of some influencer if I'm just being frank right here with everybody. And everybody should pull up their big boy pants and just know that's the truth. If they ain't consultant making no money off of it, they're not going to think it's the best idea in the world. And I'm a consultant and I got to make my money. But I'm also speaking truth to power here. But there's a way to combine these two. And this is where you should get outside of the box of just your everyday consultant. What Bullpack is doing is amazing. But bullpack only has so much money to play in just a couple races. And I get to work for bullpack too. And I love Chairwoman Sanchez, Tony Cardness before her. Like, they're going to do amazing work in four or five races and probably change the game. But what happens in the other 420 races, right? You've got to get your media consultant and your other consultants to understand that that last bit, about $50,000 don't have to go to buying a few more points of TV that nobody's watching when you could invest that on the ground or with that influencer. Politics today is shifting, and nobody, especially these media consultants, don't want to own up to that. But it is changing. And every dollar that we're pumping into TV ain't all the TV it needs to be, unless it's Spanish getting your bang for the buck. So be thinking about doing it differently. And this is why people don't hear our message and why Democrats are. Saw it as weak or whatever. The thing is, because to Clarissa's point, we've let them identify us because we've stopped talking to our own.
Stacey Abrams
You two are people I could talk to all day, but I'm going to give you the last question I have for you. So here on assembly required, we believe in homework. And Chuck, you are actually wearing a perfect shirt for today's homework. We know that we are watching actions like the no Kings protest, the ICE out protest in Minneapolis. We are seeing the rising energy to push against what's happening to the children in the Dilley Immigration Processing center in Texas. There's energy and there's momentum building, but people feel like they can't do enough and therefore they are not doing anything. So, Chuck, I'm gonna start with you. What do we need people to do to keep the momentum going? What's one thing if you can tell a listener, here's something you can go and do to help build not just the momentum against this administration and this regime, but to encourage and increase participation among Latino voters, not as a candidate, but as a person who is in a community that depends on Latino voters being part of the narrative. What do you want them to do?
Chuck Rocha
The two easy answers is go vote and then call everybody you can think of to go vote and explain to them why it's important to go vote. You've been doing it. Clarissa's been doing it for a long time, both of you. But the real thing that I hear from kids and I spoke to a group of college Latino kids in D.C. this week is that they don't think, because they didn't come from much, meaning much money, that they can do much to fix anything and that things don't really change. And when I get up and speak in front of those kids, I remind them a couple things that I've got to live the blessed life. We've hired, trained and mentored 135 young Brown and black kids in my firm. But I said, that's great that we've done that, but you should know that I've never been to college a day in my life that I'm a convicted felon and I was a teenage father. Any one of those things should keep me out of politics. And I'm all three. And I get to try to make change every day. And if I can do that, and you've went to college, you can find somewhere to volunteer. You can go to a local Unidos office. You can start making phone calls. Now, you can do it from your home through a distributed organizing arm. This is easy to get involved, but you sign up for the first time, and if you're an introvert like my wife and you don't like to be hanging out with lots of people, you can sit right at your house and get up your phone call and start texting people. You ain't got to talk to them and say, can you go vote for local candidate X, Y, or Z? Because we have to change the way America works. And that's how you make real change.
Stacey Abrams
Clarissa, you get the last word.
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
Well, definitely, we need to make sure that we are connecting the dots all the way to the voting booth and that our choices there reflect our priorities and our family's aspect. But thankfully, that is not the only way. There's a primary election in Texas, so not just in November. Showing up in primaries is going to be particularly important for Hispanic voters. But there are other things that we're also seeing. I think that we've all now realized that democracy is fragile and that it lives and dies by our engagement and our tendering to it. And so it's important, whether one relates or not to the issue of immigration. What I tell people is that what's happening in immigration right now, it's a test. It's a test of how far abuse of power can go to suppress the freedom of assembly of the press and of our civil rights and civil liberties. And when you're testing how far you can take your power, you start with the most vulnerable, who is immigrants. But I can guarantee you it won't stop there. So the fact that we're waking up to see that it's important to connect, that it's not just about immigration. That's where it's starting. How we are showing up for each other brings me hope. The way that communities have come together in every state, in every city where this administration has chosen to send what can only be described as goons to act with impunity, and then people have stood up, that gives me hope. We need to keep training ourselves because we've seen that there's danger to it. But neighbors standing for neighbors. We have seen people walking children to school when their parents feel at risk. There is a million small actions that each one of us can take. And that's why I like this phrase in Spanish of yo pongo migueranito de arena. Each one puts a little grain of sand and that becomes big. That's certainly the case with voting and how we're showing up for neighbors to make sure that families in our communities are safe and don't feel alone when they're being threatened by a government that unfortunately is trying to act with impunity, to test how far it can go in bringing that hell to many more Americans.
Stacey Abrams
Clarissa Martinez Chuck Rocha, thank you so much for your insight, your wisdom and your work and for being here with us on Assembly Required.
Clarissa Martinez de Castro
Thank you, thank you.
Stacey Abrams
Assembly Required is here to help us understand what's happening and then take action where we are. Because every decision to resist adds up. So first, be curious. If you want to learn more about Latino voters and stay up to date on polling trends, visit unidosus.org and check out their Hispanic electoral data hub and pick up a couple copy of Chuck's book, the Inside Story of How Bernie Sanders Brought Latinos into the Political Revolution. Next, solve problems. The Trump administration is spending billions on the expansion of detention centers that are caging immigrants and sometimes US Citizens, holding them in appalling conditions that have already led to death. But deals to purchase warehouses that ICE intends to use to supercharge their cruel agenda in various cities have already fallen through. More than 20 cities have been identified as possible locations. If an ICE detention facility is being built in your town, consider organizing a protest. Call your mayor and city councilors to register your opposition and ask them to put pressure on warehouse owners not to sell. And of course, let's do some good. The Dilley Immigration Processing center has made headlines for its inhumane, untenable conditions, particularly for children with confirmed cases of measles at the detention center, young families, including those with newborns who have not been vaccinated, are being exposed to deadly disease. Call Dilley and demand they release every family together as their cases are pending. You can call Dilley at 830-378-6500 or you can call CoreCivic at 877-834-1550. Assembly required continues to grow its audience, but we need your help. We reach more people when you tell others about us, when you add us to your feed and share your favorite episode. So make sure you actually subscribe on all all of your favorite platforms and not just one. Boost our visibility by rating the show and leaving a comment. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcast. And please also check out my substack Assembly Notes where we dive deep and where I share more of my thoughts on how we understand and then fight back against this authoritarian regime. And thank you to the thousands of you who have signed up for for the 10 Steps campaign at 10stepscampaign.org we offer information in English and Spanish to help you recognize what's happening, activate around solutions and build a better America. That wraps up this episode of Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams. Do good out there and I'll meet you here next week. Assembly Required is a crooked Media production. Our lead show producer is Lacey Roberts and our Associate producer is Farrah Safari. Kiril Palaviv is our video producer. This episode was recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Our theme song is by Vasilys Fotopoulos. Thank you to Matt De Groat, Kyle Seglin, Tyler Boozer, Ben Hethcote and Priyanka Muntha for production support. Our executive producers are Katie Long and me, Stacey Abrams.
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Episode 73: Here’s How Democrats Can Win Back Latino Voters
Release Date: February 24, 2026
This episode dives deeply into the shifting dynamics of Latino voters in the United States—a critical group for Democrats as political power continues to rebalance post-2024. Host Stacey Abrams is joined by Chuck Rocha (Solidarity Strategies) and Clarissa Martinez de Castro (UnidosUS) to discuss why Democrats lost ground with Latino voters; how Republican approaches to economics, immigration, and voter suppression have influenced Latino political participation; and what Democrats need to do to win back trust and build lasting alliances with America’s growing Latino electorate. The conversation is data-driven, honest about hard truths, and focused on actionable steps for political operatives and concerned citizens alike.
Latino voters are pivotal swing voters, with 1 million new Latino US citizens turning 18 every year, making them a fast-growing and young electorate.
The diversity within 'Latino' and 'Hispanic'
Swing votes and party fluidity
Lack of substantive, consistent engagement
Republican gains driven by economic anxieties
Consultant and candidate blindness
“If you hire the same old consultants, you get the same old results.” — Chuck Rocha (28:49)
Top issues: Cost of living, jobs, housing insecurity, health care—not just immigration.
Aspiration and entrepreneurship
“We still feel like we can get there. That’s why the highest demographic of entrepreneurship is with Latinos. We're starting businesses.” — Chuck Rocha (36:35)
1. Hire and Empower Latino Talent
2. Start Earlier, Aim Broader
3. Culturally Competent, Continuous Messaging
4. Train a New Class of Latino Political Operatives
5. Expand Fight Against Voter Suppression
> “Voting can feel like a very lonely act, right? It's you and the voting booth. Our community is very social…we encourage people to go together, to be support for each other.” — Clarissa Martinez de Castro (51:40)
ICE detention centers as humanitarian crisis
“America hasn't had mass prison camps since the shameful decision to set up internment camps…we don't have to repeat our worst histories.” — Stacey Abrams (06:30)
Voting—individually and as a community—is the first step.
Get involved in local advocacy against detention centers and for humane immigration policy.
Use community organizations like UnidosUS for data, resources, and voter registration or support.
Encourage and train new generations of political leaders and operatives from Latino backgrounds.
“Each one puts a little grain of sand and that becomes big. That's certainly the case with voting and how we're showing up for neighbors…” — Clarissa Martinez de Castro (61:13)
This episode shines as a comprehensive, honest, and practical roadmap for those committed to winning—not just elections, but the moral and democratic future of the country, with Latino voters front and center.