Latinos hold the reins in November…but do they know it yet?

The GOP is predicting a repeat of 2006 when the Dems took over congress, but this time in favor of the Republicans. They are confident of this because so many Americans are unhappy with their economic situation, and the way the Obama administration is running the government. But when you analyze one of the 2006 wild cards—Republicans received only 29% of the Hispanic vote—the deck is still stacked in favor of the Democrats.

In a population survey by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, based on U.S. Census figures, the Latino voting turnout was one of the factors that gave Democrats the win in 2006. Their voting rates by region were 37.3% in the West, 33.5% Midwest, 29.4% Northeast and 27.7% South. The total voting was 49.2%, 53.2%, 46.9% and 43.9% respectively. Hispanics were 12.5% of the population then. Impressive.

According to a CNN report by Ruben Navarrette, Jr., the 2010 Census will reveal that same voting block “exploding” to 60 million people or 18% of the population. And they are pretty ticked off at Republicans that support Arizona’s new Immigration Law, SB1070. The CNN reporter says that it is estimated that 500,000 new Latinos are added to the voting rolls every two years.

Navarrette’s “clueless” Republicans on the issue include Sens. John Cornyn, Texas, Lindsey Graham, NC, Jon Kyl and John McCain, AZ, Charles Grassley, Iowa, Jeff Sessions, Alabama and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky. They will no doubt be at the top of the hit-list when up for reelection.

Right now it seems quiet on the voter registration front, but with just 63 days to the November 2 election, you can bet something is going on in the Hispanic community, and we’ll be hearing about it soon.

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