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indicating that they do not provide as much substantive representation for Hispanics. Thus,
descriptive Hispanic representation counts, but only for Democratic representatives.
Perhaps the most compelling finding is the strong indirect substantive representation
provided by members of the Black Caucus. The support of the Black caucus rivals that of the
Hispanic Democrats. This evidence suggests that there are many areas of common concern and
that coalition building is a prudent strategy.
NHNB Democrats, even considering ideology, are less supportive than Hispanic and
Black Democrats. Even though they are less supportive, they are still much more supportive of
Hispanic issues than Republicans. Redistricting that leads to a loss of white Democrats will then
lead to less Hispanic substantive representation.
In fact, the evidence strongly suggests that any Democratic representative is much better
for Hispanic substantive representation than Republican representatives. Only 4 Republican
representatives have a NHLA score over 30 whereas only 3 Democrats have scores less than 30.
Conclusion
The introduction discussed the redistricting from Texas and speculated on how that
would affect Hispanic substantive representation. The evidence is clear that redistricting that
produces more Republican districts at the expense of white Democrats will lead to a decline is
Hispanic substantive representation. Thus, the redistricting from Texas can be expected to lead
to a decline in overall Hispanic substantive representation.
Hispanic descriptive representation can make a difference -- if the representative is a
Democrat. Thus, Hispanic Republican representation is of the symbolic type. Hispanics are
much better off with any type of Democrat and especially a Hispanic or Black Democrat. This
Convention