[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're joined once again by our good friend Carlos Medina, President and CEO of Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey.

Carlos, good to see you.

- Good to see you, Steve.

Thanks for having me on.

- Yeah.

I particularly, I always say this, I love that picture over your left shoulder.

Both pictures are iconic.

Tell folks who we're looking at.

- We have Celia Cruz, who on October 21st of this year would've celebrated 100 years.

And Roberto Clemente, the Hall of Fame Boricua baseball player, one of the best players to ever play the game.

- Yeah.

And in Bloomfield Avenue in Newark, where I grew up, in Branch Brook Park, right on the corner of Bloomfield Avenue and Lake Street, there is a wonderful, powerful statue of the great Roberto Clemente.

And shout-out to Joe DiVincenzo, the county executive and what they've done in the parks there.

Not relevant to what we're talking about, Carlos, but I'm going to do a pivot here.

You ready?

Carlos, you- - I'm ready.

I'm always ready.

- You always are.

By the way, plug your programming right now.

What should people watch and why?

Tell everyone, Carlos.

- Que Pasa if you want to see diverse storytellers telling their amazing stories of resilience and the value that they're bringing to the New Jersey mosaic.

- Got it.

Hey, Carlos, you umm... we're taping this week after this very important election in New Jersey and across the nation.

You said during the campaign that Jack Ciattarelli was the candidate that you felt would be most effective and impactful to the Hispanic community, particularly Hispanic business community.

A couple of numbers, and I'm not big on election stats, and this is a policy program, but in 2024, Donald Trump won the Hispanic vote according to the NBC exit polls.

51 to 46.

In 2025, Mikie Sherrill, according to the NBC exit polls, flipped those numbers.

Mikie Sherrill beat Jack Ciattarelli 68% to 31%.

What happened in your view?

- A 1,000-pound anchor named Trump.

- Explain it.

- Trump, I have... Like I... It's so complicated, it's hard to express it.

- Is it complicated but simple at the same time, Carlos?

- There's so many moving pieces.

So in my heart, what Trump is doing, how could I, you know, it's how do you, how do I like, how would I, like I didn't endorse anybody, but I was asked by both parties, like if I endorsed Jack, like how can I do that with Trump's shadow over him?

And I just didn't want to endorse anybody.

But the only reason I made that comment, Steve, and I've been like attacked for it, unfairly, I think, but that's New Jersey politics.

All I said is I leaned towards Jack because he has shown up.

Mikie was invited to a lot of events.

I knew she was going to win.

I mean, I'm not an idiot.

I mean, we know she was going to win.

I wanted her to know our members, and she just didn't.

So when a reporter asks me, "What are you leaning?"

I'm saying, "Well, one candidate knows our members, has been to, you know, spend roughly 24 hours, 24 hours in the last four years.

And the other candidate just hasn't been able to."

So it's frustrating for me because I feel like you got to cater to the community that you're going to be able to serve.

And I have nothing against Mikie.

I love her.

I've contributed to her congressional campaign in the past.

I've met her many times.

I just think our handlers in DC were super conservative in telling her, "This is where we want you to go, where you're going to have, you know, very warm reception.

It's all going to be very orchestrated."

Kind of what you interviewed me years ago about Cuba, you said everything was kind of set up.

I feel the same, like they didn't want to take any risk.

And that's, hey, they did great.

Maybe that was the right strategy.

But as a person who represents the chamber, I put my neck on the line because I know when you lean towards somebody else and the other person wins, there's going to be possible retribution.

But I just couldn't not recognize that the community needs to be, you know, you got to meet the community if you're running for governor.

- But Carlos, listen.

And for those who attack and say you don't have a right to say what you were thinking, that's their business.

But I'm way more interested, and I know you are as well, in what happens now.

So now there is Governor Sherrill, what would you say the top couple issues are for the Hispanic business community, which you and the chamber represents so well?

That's what this should be about.

Go ahead.

- Yeah, I'm very willing to be that conduit.

And also my chairman is, you know, very beloved and very active.

We just got back from Mexico, where we were given the red carpet.

We contribute $127 billion, that's the GDP of Hispanics living in New Jersey.

That's the fifth largest in the United States.

We are movers, we're fueling the economy.

In 2008, the great recession, businesses were shrinking, Hispanic businesses growing.

So we need tools to increase, for example, a lot of money's put into workforce development, Steve.

Give me a little bit of that money for training.

They're going to have businesses, they're paying rent, they're paying employees, they're paying taxes.

Let's be creative.

There's a lot of creative ways that, you know, people that know me, I love creativity, I'd love to work with her team on how we could really become an example for the whole United States.

I mean, people in Mexico were like, "We know New Jersey."

They said we're the New Jersey of Mexico, was the comment in the whole trip.

We're similar, you know, similar... The states, the individual states, I apologize.

Because, you know, the technology.

Entrepreneurs there pay 50% for a loan.

So when they hear that we have reasonable rates.

So it's just, it's a very... You know, the chamber Hispanic business community, we say familia, we're very close.

So we just want to have a seat at the table.

We just want to help people.

I don't want any position in the administration.

I don't want a board of directors.

I don't need anything.

I just want my community to be able to do business.

And Governor Murphy was very good to us, and I was spending time with him now in Mexico.

So if it would be a continuation of his policies... - Was that the Choose New Jersey trip?

- Yes.

- Okay.

Let me switch gears to a more specific issue.

Childcare, we've been very engaged in a public awareness initiative around childcare.

The graphic will come up.

People should go to that website to find out more about it.

In the Hispanic business community, in any business community, employers, childcare is a huge issue.

How important is childcare as an issue, as a challenge to Hispanic businesses, A?

And B, what does the governor need to do in that regard, please?

- It's very important.

I mean, what's happening now is people are, you know, trying to create a business that's home-based to try to accommodate the family.

So it's been a real struggle.

So if the governor could, you know, study the problem, put some funding to it, it would be a good solution.

I think there's ways to do it talking to the business community because a little bit of the cost should be shared by some employers, you know, because that's a great benefit to add.

You know, I'm very much that workers in New Jersey work hard and we deserve to be treated properly.

- Your research and your team has shown that there are more women creating businesses than men in the state in the Hispanic community.

That's a fact?

- Very much so, yes.

- Because?

- I'm not sure I know the reason, Steve.

It's just the great entrepreneur spirit.

The ecosystem I think is maybe a little tighter with the women, the way they collaborate in joint venture.

The guys aren't able to work as smoothly together.

That could be part of it.

I see a lot of JVs between the women companies.

It's amazing.

- Love it.

Carlos Medina, our friend and fellow broadcaster, check him out.

He is the President and CEO of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey.

Carlos, good to see you.

I wish you all the best.

- Thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, that's Carlos Medina.

We'll see you next time.

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