New Hispanic Voters in Iowa Push Democrats Into Balancing Act
DES MOINES — At La Favorita, a Mexican grocery store here, there is plenty of food for sale — and also a new brand of politics.
And every weekend, at a small table behind the newspapers and a case of cold sodas, a trickle of newly minted citizens are doing just that — not in numbers large enough to constitute a voting bloc, but enough to make politicians take notice. The effort reflects the growing presence of Hispanics here in Iowa <
At campaign stops, Democratic candidates are frequently asked, often in hostile tones, what they are going to do about the influx of immigrants, mainly from Mexico and Central America, that are streaming into Iowa and changing the culture, and potentially, the political landscape of this early nominating state.
For Democrats, the situation in Iowa could be a harbinger for other states, as rural America deals with a flow of immigrants that other places, like Florida, New York and California, have already experienced.
To varying degrees, Democratic presidential candidates are reaching out to Latino voters here. Many have set up Hispanic steering committees, sent bilingual workers to Hispanic events and sponsored visits from Hispanic politicians. Senator Barack Obama <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per> of Illinois brought Federico Peña, the former Denver mayor and national Obama campaign co-chairman, to Iowa, while the Clinton campaign played host to a visit from Senator Robert Menendez <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/robert_menendez/index.html?inline=nyt-per> of New Jersey, who is Cuban-American. But no campaign is reaching out too far. Most Democrats steer clear of the immigration <
Iowa, like other parts of the nation, is in the midst of change as more Spanish-speaking immigrants move into the state, taking jobs in meatpacking, corn and egg processing plants. Evidence of their growing presence comes in the form of new Spanish-language newspapers, radio shows and mom-and-pop stores in fading downtown areas.
At the moment, an estimated 114,700 Latinos are in Iowa, a 28 percent increase since 2000, according to the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs. In some small towns, nearly a third of the citizens are Hispanic, although about half the Hispanic population is concentrated in five Iowa cities, including Des Moines.
Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic group, although they still represent just 3.8 percent of Iowa’s population. By most calculations, there are some 37,000 registered Hispanic voters in the state.
"Republicans in Iowa have made a big effort to use us as a scare tactic," Mr. Ortiz said in an interview. "And that works well for a good percentage of Iowans. The Democratic contenders are doing a good job of addressing Latino issues outside of Iowa but are fearful of losing voters here. Both think we are irrelevant to the process. But we are in the process of registering to show that we are not irrelevant."
Many new citizens are fearful of anything to do with the government, given the recent workplace raids. Others come from countries with a history of corruption and believe their vote is irrelevant.
"Lots of new citizens come here with an old country mentality," Mr. Ortiz said. "They feel their vote doesn’t matter and the rich always win."
Gricelda Ramirez, whose father, Ignacio, owns La Favorita, said a combination of fear and apathy was hurting their voter registration efforts. In addition, the caucus process, in which voters must appear before their neighbors and speak up about their political choices, can be intimidating for those for whom English is a second language.
"A lot of people are scared to get involved because they think that immigration will come for them," Ms. Ramirez said. "Even though they have become citizens, they don’t know where to vote or what it is all about."
By most accounts, Hispanic leaders here say that among the Democrats the Obama campaign has been the most aggressive in reaching out to them.
."We are reaching out to nontraditional people," said Joan Kato, head of Hispanic outreach for the Obama campaign. "We can’t expect the voters to come to us, so we are going to them and showing up at events to build trust."
The Obama campaign has sent Ms. Kato and her crew to over 50 Latino events in the state, is lining up Spanish-speaking supporters to work on caucus night, has printed literature in Spanish and English explaining the caucus process and has a Latino steering committee in every region of the state.
"Our biggest problem is to get people to understand the process," said Mr. Estrada, whose father is from Venezuela. "Many don’t have a clue, and we need to relate politics to their everyday lives. We’re targeting the audience, and we are getting the message out."
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