Alex Prieto and Gina Rodriguez, slipping back and forth from Spanish to English, acted like Chicago-style Democratic precinct workers as they knocked on the doors of working class families in Cicero on a recent chilly morning. But the leaflets the pair passed out extolled the virtues of Republican candidates.
“Republicans have not done a good job of attracting Hispanics,” said Rodriguez, 42, a sales executive and resident of Chicago’s Gold Coast who is Hispanic outreach chairman for Young Republicans for Bush. “They were afraid to come out here. We’re the new Republicans. I’m not afraid of my people.”
Hispanics traditionally are seen as a Democratic constituency. But with the Latino population growing and spreading from urban Democratic strongholds into majority-Republican suburbs in recent years, GOP candidates and activists are showing new interest in the Hispanic vote.
At least two suburban Republican candidates this fall are using their fluency in Spanish to court Latino voters, while also recruiting Spanish-speaking volunteers to make phone calls, mailing Spanish-only brochures and attending Latino festivals and church services. In DuPage County, the Republican Party office in Addison Township has added a phone inquiry line for Spanish speakers.
“Our message to Hispanics is, `Listen to us. Give us a chance,'” said state Rep. William O’Connor (R-Riverside) from the 43rd District, which includes parts of Cicero and Berwyn, which he estimates is now 18 percent Hispanic.
Despite the focus on Hispanics, many political experts say Republicans will have a hard time attracting Latino voters because the party’s agenda doesn’t mesh with issues many care deeply about, such as amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Republicans, however, argue their party is expanding. In fact, a new poster couple for Republicans this year is Joel and Yolanda Campuzano of Bensenville. Yolanda Campuzano was the first Hispanic elected to the Addison Township Board, while her husband, Joel, does political volunteer work.
Hispanics are in sync with many conservative Republican positions, Joel Campuzano said.
“If you ask about guns, abortion, [rights for] homosexuals, Hispanics are Republicans, but they don’t know it,” he said.
Another Republican candidate making a strong pitch for Hispanic voters this year is Mark Kirk, who is challenging state Rep. Lauren Beth Gash (D-Highland Park) for the open 10th Congressional District seat in North Cook and Lake Counties. The district includes Waukegan and North Chicago, which have large Latino populations.
Fluent in Spanish, Kirk said he believes Republicans can attract Hispanic entrepreneurs by pushing programs that promise to reduce governmental red tape while offering to help small-business owners obtain health insurance for their workers.
“When you’re running a lawn care business, [Environmental Protection Agency] regulations start to matter on what you can put on a lawn,” said Kirk, who wants to reduce regulations on businesses.
Kirk acknowledges Republicans have to overcome negative perceptions of the party held by many Hispanics, particularly because of the GOP’s involvement in California to deny government benefits to illegal immigrants.
Even if GOP candidates such as Kirk make inroads among Hispanic voters next month, some political analysts question the depth of that support for Republicans.
“The Republicans would love to make Latinos look like God-fearing conservatives,” said Louis DeSipio, director of Latina/Latino Studies Programs at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. “But Latinos are very pro-big government and want government to ameliorate inequalities in society.”
Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Willie Velasquez Institute, a non-partisan research group in San Antonio, Texas, predicted Republicans never will capture a significant portion of the Latino vote unless the party moderates its views on some issues, such as immigration.
A good example of the work Republicans have cut out for them is Bob Escalante, president of the Chicago Chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. While he’s upwardly mobile, Escalante said he usually votes Democratic because he has many friends and family members who are less fortunate than he.
“We need to make sure we’re bringing everybody up on the economic ladder, not just individuals,” said Escalante, a financial analyst.
Some Hispanic Republicans, such as Sunny Abello of Batavia, who ran unsuccessfully in the GOP primary for the 21st District state senate seat last spring, say party leaders are not fully committed to backing Latino politicians. In order to win over Hispanic voters, she said, the GOP is going to have to more aggressively work for Hispanic candidates.
But state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, chairwoman of Republican Outreach for Ethnics in Illinois, said Latinos in the party need to be patient.
“Latinos still have to learn how to organize and come together to make a critical mass,” she said.
Joseph Galvan, chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, said Hispanics are getting experience on city councils and school boards in suburbs such as Joliet, Aurora and Waukegan, which he said are becoming more Republican.
Further, if the GOP widens its base, it will have to incorporate the concerns of members such as Prieto, 42, a member of the public school board in Cicero who opposes Republican-backed initiatives to legalize school vouchers. But Prieto believes the party is making strides to become more inclusive.
