Latinas Have the Power to Shape California’s Electoral and Legislative Future

For our Season 2 finale of Courage — It Looks Good on You!, we’re looking ahead to 2024! Specifically the 2024 primary election, taking place in California in March, and how one of California’s most important voting-blocks, Latinas, can shape the future.

According to a UCLA study, “turnout gaps between Latinos—one of the fastest-growing demographic groups— will lead to election results that are increasingly unrepresentative of the wishes of many voters… [however] research has shown that having sustained and direct face-to-face voter engagement with Latino voters is imperative to get them to the polls.”

Senior Policy Adviser for Communities for a New California Action Fund (CNC Action Fund), Melissa Vargas, joins Angela Chavez, communications director at Courage California, to discuss the different ways CNC is engaging Latino communities in the Central Valley and why tapping into the power of Latina leadership is, and will continue to be, critical in our state’s elections and progress.

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Angela: [00:00:00] Well, California, we made it to the end of the 2022 23 legislative cycle. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. But as we near the end of the year, it's time to start thinking about the 2024 election.

I'm looking forward to today's conversation because I get to talk about some of my favorite topics. California power, voter power, Latina power, and the impact we can make in 2024, which is why I'm thrilled to have with me today, Melissa Vargas. Welcome to the show, Melissa, and thank you for joining me.

Melissa: Hey, Angela, thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to join you all.

Angela: So I'd like to start off this conversation just by asking you a little bit about your work with CNC Action Fund. what is it? What regions do you all cover? And what your role is with the organization?

Melissa: Yeah, so Communities for New California Action Fund CNC Action Fund, as you [00:01:00] mentioned, is a C4 nonprofit, and we're fighting to end the profitability of white supremacy by interrupting the concentration of wealth. And the subsequent concentration of power. Now, we work on ending the profitability of white supremacy with the help of our families and through the Lucete Latina program, where we advocate and vote for policies that uplift our neighborhoods. CNC is a statewide organization that focuses especially on rural areas of California, and we have offices in Coachella, Fresno, Merced, Sacramento, and Stockton. And I've recently relocated to Washington, D.

C. from California, so I'm going to be bringing attention to the issues we care about to the country's capital.

Angela: That's great. And can you share a little bit with me about the difference between CNC's Action Fund and Education Fund?

Melissa: Yeah, so we're both affiliate organizations as a C3 and a C4. So the C3, the education fund, works [00:02:00] on education. So we engage community members, we provide information about the issues, and we focus on issues of that perspective. And then on the C4 side, we can dig in a little deeper and talk about some of the elected officials that are leading on these issues and some that aren't necessarily doing a great job.

Angela: So with that, I now want to talk about this great little booklet that I saw that came from you guys. It was a booklet created for the News and Review. You mentioned it was titled, Earn the Latino Vote, and it was available in both English and Spanish. And it really focused in on a lot of the specific issues that affect Central Valley's Latino communities.

So I just want to have a, get a better idea just the thought process behind it. What was the purpose, the goals, and why did it focus so much on the Latino community?

Melissa: Yeah. So the news and review publication, it was actually [00:03:00] part of our Luce de la Atina program. That we began in 2021 and we're continuing to implement this today. It was titled earn the Latina vote and it highlighted stories of amazing women in the San Joaquin and Coachella valleys who are leading the way for their families, their neighborhoods, and the state on everything from access to reproductive health.

to securing clean drinking water for their families. And we know that when Latinas are engaged, they also activate their families, friends, and their neighbors. So our purpose was really to accomplish two things. One, highlight these Latinas successes and the ways that they shine so that other Latinas could see themselves in them and in the places of leadership that they are in.

And then two, highlight to elected officials and policymakers the power that Latinas have so that they really take us seriously, just as we deserve.

Angela: So what was the goal around that

Melissa: Yeah, the goal was to [00:04:00] highlight the success of Latinas in the area so that other Latinas could be motivated and see and identify themselves in others and know that There's other amazing Latinas doing the same work that they're probably doing at maybe a more quiet scale or a smaller scale and that they have the support of others in the community and in their neighborhoods to be able to amplify their work and even do more and to not be like really afraid to take up that space.

So we want them to shine. We want Latinas to lucirse, you know, I think so many times in our culture we Perhaps tend to be a little bit more humble and quiet. And we really just want to like break those glass ceilings per se, and really make sure that we're creating the space so that other Latinas step up and aren't afraid to take in that light and to give that light.

And then our other goal was really to highlight to elected officials. All the [00:05:00] amazing work and all the power that these Latinas have so that they know that, you know, come elections and before elections, they need to be engaging us and they need to take the time to listen to what our needs are, what our wants are, because we, we control a lot and we have a lot of influence.

And so we want to make sure that we're using that.

Angela: So it was a bit of a inspiration tool and an accountability tool.

Melissa: Yes, that's a very more, much more succinct way of saying it.

Angela: So I love all this work around Latina inspiration and accountability and just getting folks activated and engaged in community and civics. But I'm wondering if you could speak on why Latinas.

Melissa: That's a really great question. So there's, A lot of, a lot of reasons. But I'd say that in the 2020 census, CNC was among a group of many organizations [00:06:00] who sought to ensure a complete count among residents in California. And led a particularly strong effort to provide multilingual and multicultural outreach in the Sierra Foothills, San Joaquin Valley, and Coachella Valley.

As a result, for the very first time, California's Latino population made up the largest racial or ethnic group, nearly 40 percent of residents, which is more than 15 million people identified as Latino. And just as like, you know, counter perspective, California's population is nearly 40 million. So that's a really significant chunk of individuals that were counted and Latinos that were counted.

And this is really important for a number of reasons. One being that, you know, voting. Latinos can absolutely be impactful in making their priorities known through elections. And then two, legislation and policy wise, it highlights the opportunity we have to interrupt the current oppression economy and support policies that set up the majority to succeed.

And we know that an engaged and [00:07:00] accounted California and accounted Latino and Latina population means that when the California's Independent Redistricting Commission embarked on its mission to redraw congressional and legislative districts to account for population changes, it had to reflect the census data.

And, you know, as you know, ultimately, as a result, California was able to approve three of the new Latina majority congressional districts, all of which are in the San Joaquin Valley, and that's Congressional District 13, 21, and 22. In addition, 22 of the 80 new state assembly districts and 10 of the state's 40 senate districts are also Latino majority. And when you talk about Latino majority, it actually translates to Latina majority.

Angela: So what I'm hearing you say is We should have more Latinos representing and voting, right?

Melissa: Yes, [00:08:00] absolutely.

Angela: I mean, if we want a more representative democracy, then yeah.

Melissa: Mm

hmm.

Angela: we gotta get out the vote. So, these wonderful booklets that you've shared with us about, where can folks find them? Are they still available? Can people download them?

Find them online, anywhere?

Melissa: Yeah, they can. They are still online. I can give you the link so that you can share with viewers. Does

that work?

Angela: Sure, I can put it in our show notes.

Melissa: But yeah, you know, as you mentioned their bilingual English and Spanish they have some really great photos of the Latinas that we spoke to. So it's really nice because you get a little bit of their personal story and what, you know, what has really made them passionate in the space and all the exciting work that they're doing to make a difference for their, for their family and for their neighbors.

Angela: that's great. I love that. these pieces of inspiration are so important. It's important to see yourself reflected in the stories, in the community, and just knowing that [00:09:00] others Are doing this work and it is so accessible to be engaged and, you know, especially on local community levels. So to see leaders that look like you doing this work and who you can join, who you can support folks that can inspire you to, to inspire you to register to vote for the first time.

Like that is, that's great. So I really appreciate the work that you guys are doing with this. And before I go any further in the conversation, where can folks find you or support the work that you do?

Melissa: Yeah, thank you for asking about that. We're always looking for additional support. So folks can jump onto CNC Action Fund's website, which is www.

anewcalifornia. org. And there's, you know, various ways to support the organization, whether it's through, like, volunteering[00:10:00] we have folks on the ground in in some of the areas that we mentioned, that have different canvassing efforts, we do phone banks. Our team also sets up like neighborhood committees where folks can get together and just really like talk about the issues.

So that's like a great way to be able to support the organization is getting more involved. And then obviously, you know, whatever any types of donations are always welcome and appreciated. But more than anything, we just really want to make sure that our neighbors and our communities are engaged on the issue, so just coming out and having a conversation with us is, is the best thing that y'all could do.

Angela: Okay. And is there a good social media, handle that folks can use to contact you guys?

Melissa: There is! So, on Instagram, we are cncactionfund. And you'll get to see some of the Latinas that we've been luciendo and our different team members out on the ground talking with folks and just a bunch of different [00:11:00] issues that we're really passionate around. So it's, it's a great piece of information.

Angela: So looking ahead into 2024, we know every vote matters. But I'm interested to hearing your thoughts specifically on the Latina vote, specifically here in California. Why is this such an important voter block for the 2024 election?

Melissa: Well, it's such an important voter block because we now have these Latina majority districts in the San Joaquin Valley. So as I mentioned the three new Latina majority districts is Congressional District 13 21, and 22. So we are going to be paying special attention to Congressional District 13 and Congressional District 22 because these are areas that are driven by the power of Latina voters.

We know that Latinas are registered to vote at higher numbers than Latinos and overall more likely to vote than their male [00:12:00] counterparts by 5%. And that's super exciting because, you know, we know that Latinas are voting at higher numbers, and we also know that they tend to be in a multi propensity household, where perhaps you have other voters that are like first time voters, or Voters that vote only on general elections and don't vote on midterms.

And we know that Latinas have the influence and the opportunity to engage these other lower propensity voters and really motivate them to get out there and vote, you know, early before the election on election day, and to vote on the issues that really uplift our families.

Angela: Right. To really get their households engaged and their communities engaged. I know that's something I've done a lot in my family, but also in my line of work. I tend to talk about it a lot. So,

Melissa: absolutely.

Angela: I'm [00:13:00] curious. You know, we have that great booklet that you guys produced. You're doing all this great work, but this work doesn't come without a need for investment.

So based on what you've been seeing, who is or isn't investing in this demographic?

Melissa: Well, there's a lot of amazing organizations that are investing in Latinas and on Latinos. And also, you know, when we look, we talk about like people, people of color or better yet people of the global majority, black, Latino, AAPI, indigenous folks. There's a number of amazing organizations that do this. We are particularly excited to be launching our Lucete Latina video series, where we're going to be highlighting a dozen amazing Latinas in the state who are taking it upon themselves to uplift their neighborhoods.

We have one Latina in particular that I'd love to talk about. She's a middle school teacher in Tulare County. Her name is [00:14:00] Elizabeth, and she is such a powerful woman. Angela, you would love her. She's been teaching at Traver Middle School for over 20 years. She coaches the girls JV basketball team, which, I used to play basketball back in the day, so I like, Extra love that she does that.

And she's been president of the teacher's union for the past two years. And then my favorite role that she does is she's been supporting her students and identifying community service projects. And one of those service projects that she helped bring to light was that her students wanted a quiet place to read and study, but they didn't have a local and accessible library where they could do this.

So because of her leadership and activation of her network and the students that she worked with in Tulare County, the middle school was able to establish their first community library in 2021. And what I love so much about her work is that she's creating space for her students to think about, you know, something that needs to be finished in their neighborhoods so that their neighborhood can actually thrive.[00:15:00]

And then they can figure out how to, how to change that. So it's, so it's like they're a part of making their neighborhood more complete. And she's just one example of the Latinas that are luciendose or already shining brightly. And she's also one of the Latinas that. We are finding that is in a multi propensity voting household.

So we know that she's mixed in with first time voter and a low propensity voter. And we know that in 2024, she's going to be asking You know, not just, we're going to be asking her to not just get out and vote, but we're also going to be asking her to get her household, her siblings, you know, we're going to be asking other Latinas to make sure that their roommates and her husbands and partners to vote

Angela: that's amazing.

Melissa: She's so cool.

Angela: so who is or isn't investing in this demographic? And what does it tell you overall?

Melissa: Well, we're seeing that a number of Republican candidates are not [00:16:00] investing in this demographic. I think there's a number of folks that perhaps take Latinos and Latinas for granted and aren't considering the power that we have. I think in particular, we can take a look at the county board of supervisors, which we know holds a lot of power, such as controlling how federal dollars are allocated. From Sacramento County down to Kern County, there are 45 boards of supervisors, right? So there's five members in nine counties. And within that space, four of the 45 Sacramento to Kern supervisors are women.

Four. Out of those... Two are Latinas. So two out of 45 Sacramento to Kern supervisors are Latinas. Nine of the 45 Sacramento to Kern supervisors are Latino. One of the 45 Sacramento to Kern supervisors are Asian, a Punjabi male. And there's no [00:17:00] black or indigenous representation. So, these board of supervisors are majority, like, pretty, pretty conservative.

they're not hearing what voters want in terms of climate action. They're not hearing the importance of housing justice. They're not hearing about the issues that families are facing every single day when they don't have access to clean water, to clean air. These are folks that are, for the most part, like, part of big ag and part of big corporations.

So, these are the individuals that are not paying attention to Latinas. They're not paying attention to our Black neighbors, our AAPI neighbors. they're very much ignoring us. So this is an area that I think it's important to look at our current structure. Elections for county offices, such as elections for our county supervisors, sheriffs, district attorneys, are mostly decided in the primary.

And I [00:18:00] think it's really important to see how it is that we can bump up those elections to perhaps like the general where there's a lot more representation and more diverse representation as well.

Angela: Yeah, I think representation is that key word there. They're ignoring, but they're also not representing when they're in there. And so that just makes me think of all the things that have been in the news lately and I'm not even saying lately, it's every year we see the same articles of Latina equal payday, the pay gap of 52 cents for every one, every 1 a white male makes.

And that's a national number. And then, you know, more recently there was an article about more Latinas living in states with abortion bans and restrictions. But here in California, you know, Latinas have been long at the forefront of policy change. What are some of the other opportunities that we can look forward to that could come out of the 2024 [00:19:00] primary or general election that could address some of the issues that our communities are facing today?

Melissa: I think that's such a timely question. You know, we just concluded a 2022 post election research and analysis with one of our partner organizations, Data for Social Good, where we pulled nearly a thousand voters in Congressional District 13, 22, and 41. And what we learned from these voters across the board is that they're prioritizing the economy, health care, and housing justice.

Thank And that Latina voters are most concerned about housing justice and health care. And we also know that young voters use climate change as the barometer to tell the good guys from the bad guys when they vote. So I think when you talk about the different opportunities that may come up for the primaries and the general is that, you know, we're going to see A landscape where we talk about the economy, healthcare, reproductive freedom, [00:20:00] housing justice, education, and climate change with like a different lens.

Because just knowing that these are like Latina majority districts, we know that the way that Latinas approach these issues It's in a way that it's more focused on the community and human rights, having access to affordable and quality and just policies. So I think that we're really going to be taking just a different focus in the way that we talk about these issues.

And I really foresee women being able to continue leading this path ahead of

Angela: I am really looking forward to seeing what comes out of these key districts. I know there's been a lot of change in recent years and there's a lot of opportunity to be made in the coming elections. So as I previously mentioned California's primaries will be in March of 2024.

What can California voters do heading into the 2024 election to help improve not just voter registration, but also [00:21:00] voter turnout?

Melissa: In order to improve voter turnout and increase voter registration, I just really want to be able to see Latinas and our families getting together around the dinner table and continuing to talk about these issues. The importance of being able to really make sure that we have access to healthcare and reproductive freedom and being able to have the opportunity to purchase a home.

These are all... Things that are impacting us today and are going to have such a long term impact on not just ourselves, but our families, like when we look at being able to purchase a home, for instance, that is an opportunity to close. The wealth gap. That's an opportunity to build long term generational wealth for our families.

But guess what? We can't do that when the average home costs nearly a million dollars. Like that's just not real. So we need to really [00:22:00] make sure that we're talking about what What the current status is and what the different opportunities are to make a difference in our policies and who's going to really push those policies to make sure that they're thinking about people of the global majority, people of color, you and me.

How it is it, how is it that we can get ahead and make sure that we are thriving and creating, creating a space that our families deserve in California.

Angela: Yes, I like that. And I think that's a great note to end this on. So you heard it, everybody. You're invited to register and vote and have a conversation about it. So please do that. And remember our primary election has been moved up this coming year. So March, we're looking for you. So thank you so much, Melissa, for joining me today.

And as a reminder, you can connect with courage, California using at courage CA or emailing us at [00:23:00] info at courage, california. org.

Courage — It Looks Good On You!

Latinas Have the Power to Shape California’s Electoral and Legislative Future

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