Hispanic agenda of bilingual education, accommodating immigration policies, and
Affirmative Action. Since the 2000 election, the rules of the game and the strategies of its
players have changed.
The year 2000 was pivotal for Hispanic politics: The U.S. Census confirmed the
status of Hispanics as the nation’s largest minority group and the subsequent outreach of
Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush shifted the Republican stance toward
Hispanics.
Rises in immigration and birth rates are two reasons the Hispanic population
has grown, which means that a substantial portion of this population is either to young or
legally unable to vote(NCLR 2002). The sheer numbers of Hispanics is thus misleading.
Regardless of the ideological positions of Hispanics, the national parties must
pursue their votes to remain politically competitive. While Hispanics are dispersed
throughout the country, the majority resides in California, Texas, New York, and Florida
and make up at least 12.5 % of the population in these states (Guzmán 2001; NCLR
2005). These states are key electoral battlegrounds because of their number of Electoral
College votes (Borrus 1999). Their proportion of the vote in these swing states may
decide the ultimate partisan position of the state.
Many within political circles believe the Hispanic vote to be up for grabs (Kosmin
& Keypar 1992; L. Gonzalez 2002; Muñoz 2002). Although a majority of Hispanics call
themselves Democrats, they are not as established in their party affiliation as African
Americans; likewise, a sizeable portion identifies as Independent (see Figure 1).
According to the 2002 National Election Survey, 38.6 % of Hispanic respondents
identified as Democrats, 22.7 % identified as Republican, and 38.6 % identified as
2
The 2000 U.S. Census counted 35.3 million Hispanics living in the United States, excluding the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Island Areas. In Census 2000, people answered if they were or
were not of Hispanic/Latino origin. Hispanics could be of any race (Guzmán 2001).
2
Convention