Larry Elder campaign ramps up efforts to attract Latino voters in California recall

Two weeks ahead of the recall election deadline, leading Republican candidate Larry Elder is ramping up efforts to attract working-class Latino voters with Spanish-language ads and endorsements from two notable Latino figures.

He hosted an online event Wednesday with two Latino leaders who held political office during former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration: Former Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, a Democrat; and former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, a Republican.

Elder, a conservative talk radio host, courted Latino voters by appealing to their pocketbooks and hopes for their kids. He said he wants to cut taxes and support helping parents take their kids out of public schools in favor of private or charters schools.

He also critiqued the state’s business closures during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The other reason I’m running is because of the way Gavin Newsom arrogantly shut down the state,” he said. “Many of those small businesses were owned by Black and brown people.”

Republican candidates like Elder and Newsom alike are appealing to Latino voters in the campaign’s home stretch.

The 29-member California Latino Legislative Caucus is backing Newsom and is urging Latino voters to vote no on the recall. Voto Latino, a national civic engagement group, is also spending six figures to mobilize 600,000 young Latino voters to cast a ballot in favor of the Democratic governor.

Larry Elder on immigration

Democrats and immigrant advocates have criticized Elder’s viewpoints on immigration policy and undocumented immigrants.

He previously told the Los Angeles Times, he opposes citizenship for recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and prefers the term “illegal immigrant” over “undocumented.” He also expressed support for strengthening security at the U.S.-Mexico border and reversing the state’s sanctuary laws.

“Latinos won’t be fooled. Elder stands against all of the progress our families have made. He’s opposed to the existence of a minimum wage. He has fought to deny immigrant kids access to public schools and emergency medical services. He wants to repeal Obamacare and worker protections,” said Juan Rodriguez, campaign manager of Newsom’s “Stop The Republican Recall” group in a statement. “Gov. Newsom has been fighting aggressively for our communities, and Latinos strongly oppose this Republican recall.”

Last year, the Legislature’s Latino caucus and Democrats applauded Newsom’s decision to appoint former Secretary of State Alex Padilla as California’s first Latino U.S. senator.

During the pandemic Newsom also established the country’s first COVID-19 cash assistance program for undocumented immigrants left out of the federal stimulus aid due to their immigration status. This year, Newsom signed a budget deal expanding full-scope Medi-Cal coverage to undocumented adults aged 50 and over.

What polls say about Latino voters

Statewide polls released this summer indicate weaker-than-expected support for Newsom among Latino voters, who make up the state’s largest ethnic group and represent 30.5% of eligible voters in California.

A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released in late June showed that 56% of likely Latino voters would vote to keep Newsom in office, compared to 40% of likely Latino voters who said they would vote to remove him.

Maldonado said the economy, education and lowering crime are important issues to him and Latino voters. In California, about 54% of the state’s K-12 public school students are Latino, according to an analysis by the California School Boards Association.

“The question I asked myself is, who can help?” he said. “Who can turn this state around? Who can bring a check and balance to (those) powerful groups that are in Sacramento today? In Sacramento, that person is Larry Elder.”

Romero, a school choice advocate, appeared in a Spanish-language ad released by Elder’s campaign this week, criticizing Newsom’s decision to shut down schools and churches amid the pandemic.

“This is a clarion call for the Democratic Party. This is about sending a message that the Democratic Party has largely abandoned Latinos,” Romero said. “We’ve been taken for granted.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 2:10 PM.