(upbeat music) ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ Hey, hey - Good evening and welcome to, "Horizonte", a show that takes a look at current issues through a Hispanic lens.

I'm your host Catherine Anaya.

A record number of Hispanics have been elected to Congress and in our state legislature, Hispanics make up almost one third of the body.

And Hispanics are not just winning as Democrats but also as Republicans.

We'll talk more about that with a couple of political experts.

But first, Republican Juan Ciscomani, of Arizona's District Six is one example of an Hispanic, newly elected to office.

He talked about the American dream, while nominating Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.

- What purpose does the gentleman from Arizona, rise.

- Madam Clerk, our rights to nominate Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.

(cheering) You know, this place is a special place for me.

My first time on The Hill was back when I was an intern in 2003.

My mom visited and I remember walking her around the halls of Congress, as if I owned the place.

Well, just a few days ago, I got to walk my mom around one more time, this special place, but now, as a member elect of the United States House of Representatives.

(clapping and cheering) This country gave me and my family an opportunity, an opportunity to achieve the American dream.

Friends, I was born in Mexico.

The best way that I can tell you who I am is through a short conversation I had with my dad when I told him I was going to run for office.

This conversation, of course, in Espanol, in Spanish.

My dad asked me, "Juan, where else could we have our story?

We come to this country, we immerse in the culture, we learn English, we go through the long journey and become US citizens", he said, "I drive a bus my whole life and now my son has a shot at becoming a member of the United States Congress, where else in the world could we have our story?".

(clapping and cheering) But where else in the world could any of us have our story?

Regardless of our background, regardless of where we come from, what side of the aisle we sit on, we have the privilege and opportunity to sit here today, as part of a historic moment, fighting for what we believe.

The answer of, where else?

Is nowhere else, only here.

- Joining us now to discuss Hispanics in Congress and the state legislature is Lorna Romero Ferguson, owner of Elevate Strategies and Jason Barraza, a partner in the consulting firm of Veridus.

Thank you both for joining me.

Certainly appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- So let's go through some of the numbers, 14 new Latinos were sworn into Congress earlier this month.

A record of 47 will serve in Congress.

So that is sizable representation.

Did you expect to see this kind of success?

And I'll start with you, Lorna.

- You know, I was cautiously optimistic that we would see this kind of success because, at least from the Republican standpoint, for the past few election cycles there has been a concerted effort to recruit more Latinos to run for office.

And then with that, there's been a concerted effort to attract more Latino voters to the Republican party, as well.

And so, I mean, those numbers are just showing how those efforts are paying off as well.

Because before, I think the narrative was, there was an assumption with the Republicans that Latinos were automatically going to vote for Democrats, there wasn't really that outreach effort and now the paradigm has shifted.

And Juan Ciscomani is a great example of that, of somebody who was recruited, who's really focused on the issues that are important to his district and the Hispanic community and now he's sitting in US Congress.

And so, I think it really proves that republicans really have a lane when it comes to reaching out to Latinos.

- Well, and that outreach really was stepped up on both sides, Wouldn't you agree Jason?

- Yeah, the outreach has always been there and Hispanics have become more important part of kind of the political landscape that is nationally, but certainly here in Arizona, their importance has increased and they're getting more and more politically engaged, more and more politically aware, and the natural result of that is more and more of them are taking that step to sign up and put their name on a ballot.

- So with this kind of representation of Latinos in Congress and a number of them being Republican, like you mentioned, what does this mean for Arizona's Latino community, if you try to put that into perspective?

- Well, I think first and foremost, it shows there's a diversity within the community, right?

I think what some of the failed attempts with Hispanic outreach in the past was that, they always viewed the Hispanic community as a monolith, everybody either thought or felt the same way about political issues.

You see there's a lot of diversity and thought and opinion and it's actually being embraced, which I appreciate.

And so, even Democrats are no longer taking some of these voters for granted, realizing that they have to broaden their message.

And Republicans seeing that they have an opportunity with some of these folks.

And so, I think, when we talk about the economy and talk about families and talking about the American dream, some of these issues that really resonate with Latinos, you see a lot more engagement.

And I think representation matters, seeing somebody who has a similar story to you and your upbringing and seeing them succeed and going into US Congress, it makes you realize, "Oh, well that's something that maybe I could do too, as a first generation American or second generation".

And so I think it really opens up the doors for the next generation of folks about what's possible.

- What do you think, Jason, what do you feel this kind of impact will make?

- I think historically, people have looked to Latinos and seen a very uniform body.

And those of us from within the community have known for many years that that's not true.

We are not a uniform body.

There's a lot of diversity amongst ideology, amongst cultures, even within our community.

And that provides the opportunity for, yes, there's going to be Democrats, there's going to be Republicans.

A lot of Latinos are still voting on the Democrat side, I think there's about a two to two thirds of the vote this year, can be attributed- Excuse me, two thirds of the vote from Hispanics have went to Democrats this year, which is great and that's pretty consistent, historically.

But the reality is there, there are Republican Hispanics, Latinos that are out there and they're starting to come forward.

- They certainly are.

Democrats also made huge strides though, with a number of firsts for Latinas elected to Congress.

And in Arizona, we will have more women in the legislature than ever before.

Does that surprise you, Lorna, or is it more about time?

- For me, it's about time.

And I think more women are starting to realize that they can balance it all, right?

It's difficult to run for office and be a mom, be a wife, have a career, and balance all of those things.

And typically, there's been a lot more men who find the opportunity and the time to be able to do that.

And I think with women, without having somebody who is speaking to the issues that are important to them, they realize, "Well then I have to be the one to go out there and do it".

I always remember, I worked for Governor Brewer, and she said she got into politics because she had an issue with her son's school, right?

And first started getting engaged and it led to her career path.

And I think with a lot of women, especially with Latinas, they're finding those issues within their community and they're deciding, "Well, if I want to make a change then I need to get down there and make it happen".

- Yes.

We like to hear our voices heard, for sure.

And so, Jason, was that surprising to see, for you?

- No, it wasn't necessarily surprising.

I think that we were going to see an increase in Latinos running, just generally.

But as far as Latino women, this year, one of the major issues that arose early on was women's reproductive health.

If you're more politically engaged, you're looking to have your voice be heard, this was the year for the Latina to step forward and have her voice be heard.

- Well, going back to the numbers for a moment, according to the Arizona Republic, in 2001 only 35% of Arizona lawmakers were women and 19% came from minority populations.

Now, 48% are women, including a majority, 16 of 30 in the Senate.

I mean, it's just phenomenal.

What were the issues, do you think, that voters seemed to connect with the most?

- You know, I do think women's reproductive rights was definitely a key issue this year, we saw that in number of competitive districts.

But I think the economy too, right?

Economy and public safety.

When you look at the outskirts of Maricopa County, the suburbs where there's a lot of these kind of swing voters or there's certain demographics of the Hispanic population.

People want to make sure that their kids are taken care of, so they want a good education system, they want to make sure their kids are safe and it really comes down- And that their family is well off.

And so I think it really comes down to those kitchen table issues, that necessarily aren't the stuff that we hear on the evening news all of the time, but it's stuff that's actually impacting the home.

And so I think that's why you saw such a big difference this cycle.

- Well, I'm glad you both mentioned issues and diversity, because now that we're seeing more diversity within the Latino community and how we're being represented at this level, do you think that we'll see newer ideas as a result of the diversity that we're seeing?

Maybe some ideas come back to the table that haven't been there for a while?

- Well, what's interesting, and this speaks directly to where we started this segment with Congressman Ciscomani, look, we come from a diverse background, that diverse background has different experiences, comes with different ideas.

Those now have the opportunity to come forward.

And all of those years of experience, those years of dealing with certain cultural pressures within the community, those get to now come forward and that's just going to naturally bring new ideas, new discussion to the table.

- So, with this diversity then, do you think we'll see much more bipartisan politics in the session, this next session?

- We can always hope.

At the end of the day, especially at the Arizona legislature, or if you're looking at Congress, these are two year cycles and so, you get elected, you get sworn in and then you're basically running for reelection again.

And so, sometimes there's opportunity for bipartisanship, but many people just put their political hat back on and start running for their next race.

And so, hopefully with some of these key issues that voters really care about and some of these, you know, the diversity and thought and opinion, there will be some opportunities for things to get done in a bipartisan way.

But, you'll see the shift soon, when people are just getting ready for 2024.

- One last question, and Jason, I want to direct this to you, according to the Arizona Republic, of the eight lawmakers under 30, all but one are Latino.

What does this say about the future of Arizona?

- It says that Arizona is changing.

We've known that for many years, we've been pointing it to very years, our demographics are changing, the importance of the Latino community is rising up, and it is our future, that's what that says to me.

- Lorna, what do you think?

- Completely agree.

And I am glad to see that people are putting the time and energy into recruiting young Latinos to run for office, that they're getting more engaged and realizing that, the barrier to entry isn't really that high.

And so, I think that the future's pretty bright for Arizona.

- Do you think that the younger people that are being brought into the fold is really going to make a difference for the future of Arizona?

- I think so.

I think they come with a completely different perspective, different background and just personal story.

And I think for the past few election cycles and whatnot, it's been dominated by an older generation that has a different viewpoint.

And so I think with the younger folks coming in, a little shake up is good for the institution.

- You agree, Jason?

- Absolutely.

And the youth coming in, that creates experience that 10 years down the road, 15 years from now, is going to really be able to get results accomplished.

So it's going to be a win all around for Arizona.

- Well, and they are sharp, that's for sure.

- Yep.

Absolutely.

- Just as you both are, so thank you so much for joining me and sharing your wisdom with us and our viewers.

We appreciate it so much.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Good to see you.

And that's our show for tonight.

For Horizonte and Arizona PBS, thanks for joining us.

I'm Catherine Anaya.

Have a good night.

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