http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... home-local
May 29, 2005

Latino Bloc Has Far to Go

For myriad reasons, L.A.'s largest ethnic group hasn't harnessed its full political power.
By Sam Quinones, Times Staff Writer


You might expect city politics to engross Melchor Moreno and his family.

As owners of La Chispa de Oro, a small restaurant on Los Angeles' Eastside, they depend heavily on municipal services: garbage collection; street parking; economic development; graffiti and crime prevention.

And America has given Moreno, who emigrated from Mexico 30 years ago, a middle-class life he probably couldn't have achieved in his homeland. He is impressed with this country's political system and its fairness.

"I tell everyone," said Moreno, 63, "you have to vote."

Yet he hasn't become a naturalized citizen, though he is eligible, nor has his wife. Their son Demetrio, 21, is a citizen but did not go to the polls in this month's mayoral election. Another son, Melchor Jr., 26, and a daughter, Claudia, 22, cast their ballots for winner Antonio Villaraigosa.

In many ways, the Morenos represent the slow, fitful political evolution among Latinos in Los Angeles.

Latinos are a growing political force: Voter registration has risen steadily over the last decade, and turnout in the mayoral runoff election was higher than ever. A Newsweek cover story touted Villaraigosa's victory as proof that "Latinos are making their mark on politics as never before."

But their political punch in Los Angeles is not nearly what it could be.

"There's a silent city out there," said Mike Madrid, public affairs director for the League of California Cities and a former political consultant on Latino voting patterns. "It's enormous."

The 1.8 million Latinos in Los Angeles make up nearly half the city's population. Yet they amount to only a quarter of the city's registered voters.

Villaraigosa, the first Latino mayor in modern L.A. history, received just 100,000 votes from Latino supporters, according to exit polls. He could nearly have unseated Mayor James K. Hahn without them.

Although many Latinos cannot vote because they are here illegally, about half a million â€â€