Nevada’s Coveted Latino Voters

*Coveted. That’s either great or terrible. Great that Latino millennials have an opportunity to flex their political muscles. Terrible because the usual politicking and pandering is in full swing. I’d rather be a needed voter than a coveted one. VL

By Emily Deruy, The Atlantic (3.7 minute read)

RENO, Nevada—Young Latinos in this college town could help decide the way their state swings in the Democratic caucus. But exactly who they will choose to support remains unclear, which has made the University of Nevada at Reno a stop for both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns.

“I feel like we’re very lucky,” says Alejandra Hernandez Chavez, a 22-year-old student. “Because we’re a swing state, county, and city, we kind of get all that attention.”

Although young voters in the first primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire overwhelmingly backed Sanders, less than 5 percent were Latino. Nevada marks the first contest that involves a swing state with a sizeable Latino voting population; Latinos represent a little more than a quarter of the state’s population, and about 17 percent of its eligible voters, up from around 5 percent in 1994.

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