[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We're now joined by Dr.

Patricia Campos-Medina, who is President of Latina Civic Action.

Good to see you, Doctor.

- Thank you so much for having me back.

- Now, put me on the spot right now.

You said I could call you Patricia, but the real appropriate way to pronounce your first name is- - Patricia.

- I like how you said it better.

- (laughing) You can do it, Steve.

- I know, and listen, you were the Vice Chair of the Mikie Sherrill for Governor campaign.

Did you, do you admit under oath, that you helped the new governor to learn to speak Spanish as effectively as she did?

- We gave her some tips of things that she should do and say that will make her seem, you know, interested and part of the Latino community, and she took it all and then expanded on it because she's a quick learner and she really enjoyed speaking Spanish.

- Yeah, and she has a whole challenging agenda to deal with.

Let do this, we'll talk about government, Doctor, and policy in a second that the new governor faces.

Why do you think, give us a short version, Donald Trump in 2024 won the Latino vote with 56% of the vote, and in 2025, Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat, had over well over 50%, am I correct?

- Yes, over 56% of the vote with a margin of, you know, 68% of those Latinos voting for her is amazing.

- What happened?

Oh, wait, hold on, I got that wrong.

68% of Latinos?

- 68% of Latinos voted for my Mikie Sherrill for Governor.

And the highest number or percentage of Latinos voting for a gubernatorial candidate.

That number had only been achieved by another former senator that we won't name, but he was the only one who would get those numbers that high, and Mikie Sherrill was able to get them that high.

- So Donald Trump does well in 2024 with the Hispanic community.

Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat, largely, she runs against him and Jack Ciattarelli.

What are some of the main reasons why Governor Sherrill, did so well, then Candidate Sherrill, with the Hispanic community?

- First of all, from the beginning of this campaigning, I was proud to endorse her back in January.

So I spent 10 months with Mikie Sherrill traveling up and down the state, and we were very focused that what we needed to do was to understand what were the concerns of Latinos on the ground, what they wanted to hear, and then build relationships on the ground so that they could get to know her.

And we knew from the beginning that New Jersey Latinos were as concerned about the economy as all of New Jerseyan.

And we needed to focus on giving them solutions to their economic concerns.

And I think that that's how Mikie Sherrill was disciplined all along in this campaign, because she understood that you do not talk to Latinos in any other different manner that you talk to suburban voters, or urban voters.

People want solutions, and she was focused on doing that.

But then we did something that we needed to do better than 2024.

And that was to build relationships on the ground, to create a network of leaders that believed in Mikie and wanted to help her succeed.

And that's what we spent the time during the primary doing.

So when we got to the general, we already had a network to build upon so we can build the infrastructure for getting out the vote.

- Okay, now, where does immigration, the role of ICE and mass deportation fit into this equation regarding the Latino vote?

- Latinos, first and foremost, were concerned about their economic realities.

They are being crushed by economic concerns about their businesses not having enough access to loans, their kids not being able to get jobs, their communities feeling unsafe.

So when Donald Trump in 2024 promised them solutions to those issues, they took a chance and they said, oh, he's not gonna do what he's saying he is gonna do, he's gonna get rid of the criminal elements in our communities, which all of us are concerned about the criminal elements in our community.

So they listened to that because in 2024 and prior to that, Democrats were not really talking about how the Democrats were gonna solve their economic concerns.

We failed in the communication, but we also failed in actually creating an infrastructure to get out the vote.

I always say, and I'm a broken record on this in New Jersey politics, that what the Democratic Party have failed to do in the last 10 years was to keep the local leaders engaged and to create the the GOTV infrastructure to get the vote out.

- To get out the vote, right.

- To get out the vote.

Democrats voted by staying home.

It's not that they voted in great numbers for Donald Trump, it's that a lot of Latinos stayed home in 2024.

So what we needed to do, and I understood it very clearly, and this is what the approach that we took on the Mikie Sherrill campaign, is that we needed to give Latinos a reason to come out and vote.

And that's how we took back the gains of the Republican Party in places like Passaic.

We actually, with the support of the Democratic Party, with the support of the DNC, and with the support of national organizations like UnidosUS Action, we actually built an infrastructure through communication, through Get Out the Vote, through a field program in which we were talking directly to Latinos and telling them this is what Mikie Sherrill will do for your economic concerns.

And she will protect the constitutional rights and the civil rights of everyone in New Jersey, including your immigrant neighbors.

Because what Trump did was to lie to Latinos that he was going to fix their economic problems, and he was only gonna get rid of the criminal immigrants, but he actually began to terrorize everybody.

- Doctor, lemme push back on this.

When the President was pressed on this, I believe by Nora O'Donnell at "60 Minutes," he said, when she said, "Look, you said you were gonna go after the criminal element of those who are here undocumented."

He said, "Yeah, we are, they're undocumented.

That's against the law.

De facto, they're criminals."

You're shaking their head, why?

- What Donald Trump has done is actually... Working has become a crime.

He has actually criminalized the idea of good, hardworking people going to work.

He is sweeping people out of warehouses.

He's sweeping people out of Newark in a shrimp, in a retail place.

People who are working, they're hardworking.

- But he says they're here illegally.

- Well, but the problem of illegality is a failure of the United States Congress to actually create a path to citizenship for hardworking immigrants.

That is the problem that we have in this country, that we have not resolved the problem of undocumented migration for work.

That doesn't mean that the immigrants who are working are criminals.

Those are hardworking people trying to make it and figuring out how they can access a process to permanent residency and a process to citizenship.

We don't have that, and for 30 years, the United States Congress has failed to create a path to legalization for hardworking immigrants.

And so New Jersey as a state doesn't act on immigration matters- - It's federal policy.

- But the governor of the state has a role to play in creating safety and security for all these citizens.

And that's what Mikie Sherrill said.

"I do not support masked agents terrorizing immigrants in our neighborhoods.

I do not support mass agents illegally shutting down businesses and impacting our local economy.

And I will use my power as a governor to stand up to Trump in how they terrorize our immigrant community."

That's the message that was able to penetrate, and that's why we're able to say we care about your safety.

We care about community and community policing, and creating good relationships.

Because ultimately, what New Jersey wants is a steady economy, opportunity for all, and protecting everyone from the abuses of Donald Trump, - Dr.

Campos-Medina, I wish we had more time.

We do not.

I promise we'll continue the conversation after this.

Thank you so much, Doctor, we appreciate it.

- Thank you so much, and there's so much more to dissect about the Latino vote.

I hope that you have me again soon.

- We will, I'm Steve Adubato.

That's a very smart political observer.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

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Hackensack Meridian Health.

Johnson & Johnson.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

United Airlines.

And by The Fund for New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by Meadowlands Media.

And by NJ.Com.

- (Narrator) This holiday season, the Community Food Bank of New Jersey the state's largest anti-hunger, anti-poverty organization, together with the hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens and nutrition programs it serves is calling on all of us to unite.

Unite to end hunger.

Together we can make the holidays brighter for our New Jersey neighbors in need and help build a food secure future for our state.

New Jersey, now is the time.

Unite to end hunger.