Matt A. Barreto

I Sí Se Puede ! Latino Candidates and the Mobilization of Latino Voters

Traditional studies of political participation assume an electoral environment in which voters decide between two White candidates, and find Latino citizens less politically engaged. Given the growth in the number of Latino candidates for office over the past 20 years, this article tests whether ethnicity impacts Latino voting behavior. I argue that the presence of a Latino candidate mobilizes the Latino electorate, resulting in elevated voter turnout and strong support for the co-ethnic candidates. Although some research provides a theoretical basis for such a claim, this article brings together a comprehensive body of empirical evidence to suggest that ethnicity is salient for Latinos and provides a coherent theory that accounts for the empowering role of co-ethnic candidates. Analysis of recent mayoral elections in five major U.S. cities reveals that Latinos were consistently mobilized by co-ethnic candidates.

The Mobilizing Effect of Majority–Minority Districts on Latino Turnout

We inquire whether residence in majority–minority districts raises or lowers turnout among Latinos. We argue that the logic suggesting that majority–minority districts suppress turnout is flawed and hypothesize that the net effect is empowering. Further, we suggest that residing in multiple overlapping majority–minority districts—for state assemblies, senates, and the U.S. House—further enhances turnout. We test our hypotheses using individual-level turnout data for voters in five Southern California counties. Examining three general elections from 1996 to 2000, we demonstrate that residing in a majority-Latino district ultimately has a positive effect on the propensity of Latino voters to turn out, an effect that increases with the number of Latino districts in which the voter resides and is consistent across the individual offices in which a voter might be descriptively represented. In contrast, the probability that non-Hispanic voters turn out decreases as they are subject to increasing layers of majority-Latino districting.

Reexamining the “Politics of In-between”: Political Participation among Mexican Immigrants in the United States

This article undertakes a multivariate analysis of political participation among Mexican American immigrants. Traditional forms of participation such as registration and voting are not adequate tests of civic engagement for a population including 7 million noncitizens. Rather, this article examines nonelectoral participation including attending a meeting or rally, volunteering for a campaign, or donating money to a political cause. This research employs a national sample of Mexican Americans, including immigrants and noncitizens, and the models reveal that Mexican American immigrants are politically active. The authors find that the foreign-born are not less likely to be active than native-born respondents and, furthermore, among the foreign-born, noncitizens are just as likely to participate as naturalized citizens. Although traditional SES variables remain important, language fluency, percentage of life in the United States, and immigrant attitudes toward opportunities in the United States contribute additional predictive capacity to models of political participation among Mexican immigrants.

Mobilization, Participation, and Solidaridad: Latino Participation in the 2006 Immigration Protest Rallies

This article tests multiple hypotheses regarding participation in the 2006 immigration rallies in American cities. Specifically, the authors test whether the movement was widespread among Latinos or limited to Mexican immigrants, as speculated by the media, or whether group solidarity can be credited with mobilizing participation and support of Latino citizens for a largely immigrant cause. The consistent findings using both qualitative and quantitative approaches provide robust support for the conclusion that Latino support for the protests was strong across the population as a strong sense of solidarity unified the population around the immigration issue.

The Disproportionate Impact of Voter-ID Requirements on the Electorate—New Evidence from Indiana

This article analyzes the impact that voter-identification laws may have on the electorate in the state of Indiana. Cross-state comparisons are interesting, but they are insufficient if we are to investigate the disparate impact strict voter-identification laws will have on unique sub-populations. The ability to analyze representative data for specific segments of the Indiana electorate allows for a direct test of whether photo-identification laws negatively impact the poor, the elderly,and racial/ethnic minorities as the plaintiffs in Crawford v. Marion contend. Numerous claims have been made that voter-identification laws do and do not have a discriminatory affect,however such claims have not been based on individual-level datasets. This analysis hopes to shed some light on the actual consequences of these laws.

Latino Immigrants at the Polls: Foreign-born Voter Turnout in the 2002 Election:

Research on voting and elections has generally found that Latino foreign-born citizens turnout to vote at lower rates than native-born Latinos as well as non-Latinos. Primarily as the result of lower levels of education, income, and English language skills, immigrant voters have demonstrated low levels of political participation. In addition, naturalized Latinos are rarely, if ever, the target of voter mobilization drives, further decreasing their likelihood to turnout. However, with extensive mobilization drives targeting naturalized voters in California in 2002, and low levels of political interest among the general electorate, higher rates of turnout among the foreign-born are anticipated. Probit models predicting turnout are explored here and the results reveal that in California in 2002, for the first time, Latino immigrant voters were significantly more likely to vote than were the native-born Latinos.

Metropolitan Latino Political Behavior: Voter Turnout and Candidate Preference in Los Angeles

ABSTRACT: Most research on Latino voting behavior conclusively finds that as a group, Latinos vote at lower rates than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. In this article, we argue that given the appropriate circumstances, Latinos should be expected to vote at higher rates than other racial and ethnic groups. In particular, we think the presence of a viable Latino candidate will spur increased Latino turnout and that when Latinos candidates run for office, Latino voters will prefer the co-ethnic candidate. Analyzing precinct level returns from the Los Angeles 2001 mayoral and the 2000 presidential elections we show this may be the case. High-density Latino precincts show higher rates of turnout when Latino candidates are on the ballot, and these same precincts show heightened support for the co-ethnic candidate. In fact, for the first time ever in Los Angeles, the 2001 mayoral election witnessed Latinos voting at the highest rates of any racial or ethnic group in the city.

The Tea Party in the Age of Obama: Mainstream Conservatism or Out-Group Anxiety?

With its preference for small government and fiscal responsibility, the Tea Party movement claims to be conservative. Yet, their tactics and rhetoric belie this claim. The shrill attacks against Blacks, illegal immigrants, and gay rights are all consistent with conservatism, but suggesting that the president is a socialist bent on ruining the country, is beyond politics. This chapter shows that Richard Hofstadters thesis about the “paranoid style” of American politics helps characterize the Tea Partys pseudo-conservatism. Through a comprehensive analysis of qualitative interviews, content analysis and public opinion data, we find that Tea Party sympathizers are not mainstream conservatives, but rather, they hold a strong sense of out-group anxiety and a concern over the social and demographic changes in America.

“Should They Dance with the One Who Brung 'Em?” Latinos and the 2008 Presidential Election

Although Latinos have grown substantially as a percent of the American population to now comprise the largest ethnic-racial minority group in the U.S., whether or not this national population growth can translate into direct political influence in presidential elections has always been unclear (DeSipio 1996 ; Fraga and Ramirez 2003–04 ). At least since the 1988 election, however, scholars of Latino politics have argued that Latino voters could serve as key swing voters if certain contextual and strategic conditions existed in specific contests (Guerra 1992 ). Among these are: a competitive election in states where Latinos are a determinative segment of the electorate; strategic mobilization of Latino voters; active engagement in the election by Latino elected officials, related organizational leaders, and Latino campaign strategists; a viable Latino candidate; and issues of specific relevance to Latino voters (Guerra and Fraga 1996 ).

The Effectiveness of Coethnic Contact on Latino Political Recruitment

Since the 2000 presidential election, voter education and mobilization have witnessed a renaissance in targeted contact and segmented messaging. Candidates, political parties, and interest groups have taken advantage of advances in electronic databases to divide and subdivide the electorate into different groups and have different messages and messengers for each subgroup of voters.This article takes up the question of whether or not personalized or segmented contact during a campaign is more successful at convincing voters than “generic” contact or no contact at all. Using data from a national survey of Latino registered voters in 2004, the authors examine the impact of being contacted by a coethnic messenger on support for the Republican and Democratic Parties. While some previous studies have examined voter turnout or vote choice, this article examines the deeper implications of coethnic contact, including support for public policy and candidate favorability. The authors find that when Latinos were contacted by non-Latino Republicans, they were significantly less likely to support Bush and Republican issues, but when Latinos were contacted by Latino Republicans, they were significantly more likely to support Bush and Republican issues. Democratic contact did not have a significant effect on support for Democratic policy, which remained very high among Latino voters.