Latinos, Anglos, Voters, Candidates, and Voting Rights

Abstract

In this paper we contrast the demographics, political preferences, and voting behavior of Latinos and Anglos. In doing so, we focus particularly on California because of the large quantity of economic, demographic, and political data concerning Latinos that are available for that state. Also, restricting ourselves to Latinos in California avoids the “problem” of cross-state diversity. We demonstrate that there is remarkable diversity among Latinos within California. Were we to add the Hispanic populations of other states to our analysis, particularly Cubans in Florida and Puerto Ricans in New York, we would magnify this diversity considerably. The purpose of our research is to provide suitable factual material for determining whether or not Latinos can constitute a “community of interest.” We do not offer a new theory of “community of interest” here. But we think that a community of interest must be based more on shared preferences than on political outcomes (where “political outcomes” can be policy choices or candidates running for office).