Latinos In Wisconsin Organize To Ensure Representation

Latinos in Wisconsin are getting together, organizing, in order to ensure that Milwaukee’s current redistricting process doesn’t count them out. According to the Census, Milwaukee County’s Latino population grew by 74% in the past 10 years, representing about 6% of the total population. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:

A new coalition—Hispanics for Leadership—has formed to insure the growing Latino community gets fair representation in the new redistricting plan for the city of Milwaukee…

“The heart of the Hispanic community is on the south side and that’s where the community is most powerful and we have to make sure there’s proper representation,” he said. “If we can’t win there, where will we win?”

Rodriguez is president of the newly formed Hispanics for School Choice that pushed for the expansion of choice. He said some may label Hispanics for Leadership as conservative. But, he said, the new group is not designed to promote a conservative political agenda.

You might ask yourself, what do Latinos have to fear in Wisconsin? A few things. If you recall, as we reported, Wisconsin was one of 13 states to recently pass voter ID legislation and a politico over there recently filed Arizona SB 1070-style legislation. So, if you think about it, this group of Latinos is really launching a pre-emptive strike against what could probably be redistricting that could severely limit Latino voter power.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD