As President Joe Biden attempted early down reverse vote support from spanish people the liberal nonprofit and its political action committee announced plans to spend $57 million to turn out Latino voters.
Somos VotantesThe Latino advocacy group that runs Somos PAC gave NBC News an early look at its 2024 plans to expand Hispanic voter education and participation, and on the political side, to help Democrats win the Latino vote in races for president, Senate and House of Representatives.
Of the $57 million, $33 million will be spent on mobilizing Latino voters to support Biden, as well as Democratic House and Senate candidates in eight states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. -knocking campaigns, bilingual paid communication and “healthy” community organizing, according to the campaign plan. The nonprofit will spend another $24 million to expand nonpartisan voter education programs, including registration assistance, voting and election information.
“Latinos are the largest and fastest growing segment of the electorate, with more than 4 million new voters since the last presidential election, so we want to make sure we reach them in every way possible,” said Melissa Morales, president of Somos Votantes. .
Not only are 36.2 million Latinos eligible to vote this year — more than 1 in 10 voters this year is expected to be Spanish – but participation has also increased. In 2020, despite the pandemic, more than half Latin Americans who had the right to vote did 30% jump After 2016 and almost double national growth. This was lower than the other groups, but a high water mark For Hispanic voters.
Biden won a majority of the Latino vote, about 59%, according to the Pew Research Center. But then President Donald Trump managed to do it make a profit With Republicans, especially in Florida.
Somos’ spending is on top of Democrats’ spending targeting Latinos presidency and other races and some early visibility Biden and vice president Kamala Harris with Latino voters in a battleground.
On the GOP side, Alfonso Aguilar, director of Hispanic engagement for the conservative Project on American Principles, said his organization is making plans to win over Latino voters this year, but expressed concern that the GOP is lagging behind in doing so while Democrats are. is moving forward with Spanish-language ads and other work.
“My call to Republicans is, let’s move,” he said. Republicans want to go after the Latino vote, he said, but “my only caveat is that you have to start now.”
Focus on Nevada and Arizona
On the political side, Morales said Somos PAC, which can give directly to candidates, plans to help persuade prospective voters to vote with ads, literature and 3 million door-to-door efforts to support Democratic candidates.
Morales said about half of Somos’ spending this year will be in Arizona and Nevada. In Arizona, Biden and Democratic-Republican Ruben Gallego plan to knock on more than 1.2 million doors. If she wins a potential matchup against Republican Kari Lake, a Trump supporter, she would become the first Latino senator from the state. Several races could decide control of the Senate. Both Gallego and Lake must first win their July 30 primaries.
In Nevada, Somos plans to knock on more than 1 million doors and spend about $5 million on paid bilingual communications to boost the campaigns of Biden and Sen. Jackie Rose.
Somos PAC spent nearly $3.3 million in Nevada in 2022 Beating Adam LaxaltA Trump-backed Republican, according to AdImpact. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, the only Latina in the US Senate re-elected helping Democrats maintain a 51-49 majority in the Senate.
We need Democrats in the House of Representatives four seats net gainetc control. The political side of Somos Votantes was opened $1.5 million campaign targeted Latino voters with a bilingual ad featuring small business owners and targeted Rep. Monica De La Cruz, Republican of Texas, and promoted the Biden-signed Inflation Relief Act.
Somos Votantes says it has spent nearly $33 million in the 2020 election, with a focus on the critical battleground states of Nevada and Arizona. Biden won Nevada and swept Arizona, a traditionally red state that last elected a Democrat in 1996.
“Elections are really won and lost by margin, so to win at the margin, we have to really talk to voters on the fringes, including Latinos who don’t often vote or are new to voting,” Morales said.
Talk of Latino voters has centered around whether more voters will vote Republican this year. Morales said it’s still early and Latin Americans are just starting to adapt. So far, he said, “we don’t see the same interest around him (Trump) that we saw in 2020.”
“I think there’s a really good opportunity here to really provide a contrast between the two candidates once our PAC program is up and running; what’s our vision for the next four years?” Morales said. “And what’s the contrast of that with what Donald Trump said there, where he’s really stuck with his election rhetoric — even more so than in 2020 — more right-wing extremism.”
Separately, THICK PACThe campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has announced plans to invest six figures in partnership with local organizations to elect Latino voters in Arizona, Florida and Texas.
Republicans have closed several Latino outreach centers that helped them turn out Hispanic voters in 2020. reported first By the now closed news site Messenger. Last month, RNC spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez He told Reuters seven community centers will remain open, but “minority engagement with the community is about more than bricks and mortar.”
Steve Cortes, a former Trump adviser, told NBC News that Republicans made “significant” gains among Hispanic voters without requiring any significant contributions from the RNC or heavily funded groups. But, he said, “we don’t get as much as we would if we were more organized.”
Aguilar said Republicans will also compare the candidates’ records, and Hispanic voters look primarily at the economy, including high prices at the supermarket and housing.
“The dynamic is not right-wing extremism, but actually a return to politics that protects the American dream versus left-wing politics,” he said.
About 22% of Latinos were first-time voters in 2020, according to Catalist, a data analysis firm that conducts research for progressives and Democrats. A similar share of new Latino voters was projected for this year UnidosUS survey.
While Latino voter turnout has improved, more than three-quarters of non-Hispanic white Americans voted in 2020. less than 54% For Latinos, according to City University of New York researchers.
Somos PAC has historically received a significant portion of its money from political nonprofits, groups nicknamed “dark money” because the groups are not required to disclose the names of their donors. federal campaign finance reports.
In the past, Somos has partnered with and received funding from Senate Majority PAC, Priorities USA and the League of Conservation Voters to help build Somos programs, a spokeswoman for the group said.