Contemporary Latina/é Politics, Participation, and Representation

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

In 2022 Latinas constituted over 9% of the total U.S. population, over 18% of all women in the U.S., and half of the largest racial/ethnic minority community in the U.S.; however, they represented just 2.8% of voting members of the entire U.S. congressional body. Among this group of women is U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada — the only Latina ever elected to the U.S. Senate. Similarly, despite the important legal issues surrounding immigration, pay equity, voting rights, and racial disparities addressed by the federal courts, Latinas constitute only 2 percent of all sitting federal judges, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor stands alone as the only Latina/e ever appointed to the US Supreme Court. Finally, despite promises to appoint the “most diverse presidential cabinet in US history,” President Biden overlooked Latinas (nominating only one sub cabinet appointee – Isabel Guzman – to head Small Business Administration) while advancing three Latino men to high-profile appointments (Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education, Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security, and Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services).

In spite of their political marginalization, a record number of Latinas ran for national office as major party candidates and won in 2018, 2020, and 2022. In particular, between 2017 and 2023 the number of Latina candidates for Congress grew by more than 50% and the number of Latinas elected to Congress as voting members doubled from 10 to 20. (Acevedo 2020; Dittmar 2020b, 2022; Krogstad, Flores, Lopez 2018; Sampaio 2018). In addition to serving as major party candidates for political office, Latinas also figured prominently in each of these elections as political organizers, as campaign strategists, political consultants and managers, and as a key portion of the electorate in states with competitive statewide and national races. All three election cycles altered the political landscape, with significant increases in the volume and diversity of women of color running for national office as well as increasing the number who successfully won election to Congress (CAWP 2022; Dittmar 2018, 2020a).

Latina leaders such as Marisa Franco and Tania Unzueta Carrasco of Mijente bridged immigrant rights movements with citizenship and voting drives to empower entire Latina/e communities, while campaign organizers such as Stephanie Valencia and Julia Chávez Rodriquez led voter outreach and mobilization efforts for high-profile presidential contenders. Latina US House candidates from Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Debbie Murcasel-Powell confronted misinformation efforts designed to disenfranchise voters in their districts while Latina voters joined Black women and college-educated white women to form a key demographic coalition central to the defeat of Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential race.

Using an a variety of methods and approaches attentive to intersectional analysis of the raced and gendered context, the papers on this panel examine contemporary forms of Latina/e politics and political participation with an eye to how these challenges and changes impact efforts to advance racial and gendered justice, and restore and reimagine our democracy.

Sub Unit

• Division 32: Race, Ethnicity, and Politics

Cosponsor

• Division 31: Women , Gender and Politics Research

Individual Presentations

• Intersectional Latina Politics: US Afro & Black Latinas' Political Behavior - Yalidy M. Matos, Rutgers University

• Mujeres en la Politica: Latinas as a Unique Political Subgroup - Lisa Pringle, Claremont Graduate University; Ivy A.M. Cargile, California State University, Bakersfield; Linda Alvarez, California State University, Northridge

• Putting Their Money Where Their Mouth Is: Latina Political Action Committees - Valerie J. Martinez-Ebers, University of North Texas; Regina Branton, University of North Carolina Charlotte

• How Diversity Management Strategies Affect Latinas’ Support for Feminist Effort - Bianca Vannessa Vicuna, University of California, Davis

• Weaponizing Intersectionality: Intra-racial Challenges among Latina Candidates - Anna Sampaio, Santa Clara University

Chair

• Andrea Silva University of North Texas

Discussants

• Kelly Dittmar Rutgers University-Camden

• Anna Sampaio Santa Clara University