http://www.hendersonvillestarnews.co...60401/0/NEWS03

Friday, 10/06/06
Hispanics add voice to elections
Time is right to build clout, advocates say

By AILENE TORRES
Staff Writer


Despite his prominence in Nashville's business community, Yuri Cunza was, to some, politically irrelevant, one of the more than 125,000 Hispanic Tennessee immigrants who could not vote.

That all changed Sept. 22 when he became a U.S. citizen and joined the state's more than 46,000 eligible Hispanic voters.




Statewide, Hispanic voters make up just more than 1 percent of the total electorate, according to a report issued this week by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington.

But Hispanic advocates point to Cunza and others like him as living examples of how immigrants are becoming voters who will have a growing impact on the state's political landscape.

"We are the same ones you are going to be looking for when you need a vote," he said. "I can tell you, I am the same guy today that I was three weeks ago."

Cunza, 35, who until last month was a legal resident alien, was forced to decline a mayoral appointment to the Metro Charter Commission last year after two council members complained that a non-citizen should not be allowed to sit on such a crucial city commission.

In the 5th Congressional District, which encompasses Nashville and the rest of Davidson County, Hispanics comprise 1.8 percent of the roughly 430,000 eligible voters.

That may not seem like much, experts say, but in local elections or close races their more than 7,700 votes could make a difference, said Gabriel Escobar, associate director at the Pew Hispanic Center.

"In many ways, people tend to measure political impact by the actual vote," he said. "When you are talking about 1.1 percent of all eligible voters, you are talking about a very small number. If the difference between winning and losing is between a couple of votes, then that would certainly have an impact."

The last gubernatorial election was settled by about 40,000 votes. In such a close race, the Hispanic vote could have a significant impact on the outcome.

And Hispanic activists, jarred by a bevy of recent legislation and public policy initiatives seen by many as targeting immigrants, have launched efforts to leverage the limited political clout of the state's Hispanics.

During the past year, groups such as the Tennessee Hispanic Voters Coalition and Middle Tennessee Hispanic Democrats have been created as vehicles to increase political participation by the Hispanic community.

Tennessee Hispanic Voters Coalition, a political action committee, aims to raise money to support candidates and causes favorable to Hispanics.

The Middle Tennessee Hispanic Democrats hope to mobilize Hispanics to join the Democratic Party.

Republicans also are reaching out to the state's Hispanic and black voters through the Tennessee Republican Party Development Council.

Other grass-roots organizations, such as Tennesseans for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, have helped register more than 4,000 immigrant voters and lobbied politicians on issues important to immigrants.

Hispanics are also seeking office themselves, a trend likely to increase with the state's growing Latino population.

Earlier this year, Manuel Fonseca ran as a Republican candidate for state Senate but was defeated in the primary. Fonseca, the second Hispanic to achieve the rank of district chief in the Nashville Fire Department, was born in Lima, Peru, and lived in New York City before moving to Tennessee.

Currently, Juan Borges, a native of Puerto Rico, won the primary election and is running as a Republican for state representative in the district that represents Hermitage, Donelson and parts of Antioch.

But though Hispanic, Borges supports stricter immigration legislation.

Borges said he believes people who come here illegally should not be entitled to driver's licenses or certificates or benefits funded with taxpayer dollars. He also advocates consequences for those who hire undocumented immigrants, he said.

"I think everyone that comes here must do it legally and must learn English," he said. "And there are many Hispanics who live in my district that feel the same way."

About 50 Hispanics voters from his district have vowed to support him in the November election, he said.

Some immigrant rights activists, however, say many elected officials at all levels of government are capitalizing on the fervor over illegal immigration, pushing legislation and making statements that are seen as offensive to immigrants in efforts to placate conservative voters.

Lubell, of the Tennesseans for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said that those political strategies are shortsighted and don't take into account the fact that immigrants, Hispanic and others, are growing as a political force.

"Some of the politicians who are focusing on the present and targeting immigrants to win votes are going to regret that in future elections," he said." •