Texas’ booming Latino population lacks clout in local politics
*We’re 38 percent of the population in Texas, but only 10 percnet of mayors and county commissioners. VL
By Jeremy Schwartz and Dan Hill, Austin American-Statesman (1 minute read)
As the Nov. 8 election nears, no single group is as potentially influential as Texas’ nearly 5 million eligible Hispanic voters.
Yet despite explosive population growth over the past two decades, Latinos remain vastly underrepresented in many city and county elected offices throughout the state — even in places where their population far outnumbers Anglos.
A first-of-its-kind American-Statesman analysis has found that more than 1.3 million Hispanics in Texas live in communities with no Hispanic representation on their city council or commissioners court.
[Photo by Martin LaBar/Flickr]
