These Latina candidates can make history in the midterm elections

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Topic 1: These Latina Candidates Can Achieve Unprecedented Political Success

Democratic and Republican Latina candidates may make an unprecedented political breakthrough in Tuesday's election.

Why It Matters

: These women of mostly Mexican and Central American descent are running for the House of Representatives from Florida, Colorado, Oregon, Virginia and Maryland.

• The growing Hispanic influence beyond the so-called Sun Belt (border states such as Texas or California) stands out.

In figures

: 50 Latino Democrats and 33 Hispanic Republicans are candidates in the vote this Tuesday, according to data from both parties shared with Axios Latino.

• Currently 40 members of Congress (9%) identify as Latino, according to a review of biographies, speeches and family histories.

• Of those 40 congressmen, 29 are Democrats. 

The intrigue

: A record number of Republican Latinas are running for office Tuesday, with several running in states that don't have a long history of Hispanic elected officials.

The increase in Latina candidates [...] has to do with the approaches to them that the Republicans have made"

Jose Diaz-balart

Caraveo (left) and LunaMelina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

• Anna Paulina Luna, a Mexican-American Republican and Air Force veteran, is seeking to replace Charlie Crist, a Democratic representative from Florida who is now running for governor.

  The seat, after an electoral redistribution based on census data, tends towards the Republican Party.

  Luna may become the first woman of Mexican descent to represent Florida in Congress.

• Lori Chavez-DeRemer is a Mexican-American Republican and former mayor of a small town in Oregon.

  She is seeking to become one of the first Latinas to represent that state in Congress, in a close race with independent Jamie McLeod-Skinner.

• Yuripzy Morgan of Maryland and Yesli Vega of Virginia, both Republicans, are also seeking to make history as the first congresswomen of Salvadoran descent. 

• Democrat Yadira Caraveo, a pediatrician and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, is running in Colorado to be the first Latina for that state in the House of Representatives.

• Democratic state legislator Andrea Salinas is seeking to be one of the first Hispanics to represent Oregon in the House in a close race against Republican Mike Erickson.

In his own words

: "I think the increase in Latina candidates has to do with the approaches to these women that the Republicans have made," journalist José Díaz-Balart, of Noticias Telemundo, NBC and MSNBC, told Axios Latino.

• Diaz-Balart said an important indicator is not just how congressional races look, but how well certain local candidates like Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, who is seeking re-election, are doing.

2. Latinos can make the biggest difference here

Hispanic voters

they can swing the pendulum in especially close contests on Tuesday.

Big Picture

: Elections in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania, which may determine who controls Congress for the next two years, may be decided by a narrow margin.

• Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic of voters, with 34.5 million of voting age and eligible to vote this year, according to the Pew Research Center.

Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios

More

: If they go to the polls, they can decide the Arizona Senate outcome between Democrat Mark Kelly, who is seeking re-election, and Republican Blake Masters.

• According to an analysis by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), when Kelly was elected senator in 2020 the margin was 2 percentage points.

  Latinos in Arizona represent more than 19% of the electorate.

• Hispanic voters will also influence who governs Georgia, as well as who wins one of its two Senate seats, according to NALEO.

  Latinos are 4.4% of registered voters in that state, where the margin of victory for a Senate special election was 2 percentage points (Raphael Warnock, who is seeking reelection, won) and the margin for the governorship was just 1. (between current Governor Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams).

• Latino voters in Nevada will also be key in the close race between Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and her Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt, according to independent political analyst Alex O. Díaz. 

Bottom line

: How much of an impact Latinos will actually have beyond those forecasts depends on their participation rate.

• "I think there will be a good rate, but it doesn't look like it's going to be a record number," Matt A. Barreto, a Democratic pollster and co-founder of BSP Research, told Axios Latino.

3. Messi's odyssey and the migrant experience

The story of Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi, and the complicated relationship he and many immigrants have with their home countries, is the backdrop for NPR's first bilingual podcast.

The Big Picture

:

is the latest example of Latino storytellers gaining more and more space to tell their stories on US radio and podcasts.

Courtesy of NPR / Courtesy of NPR

• Futuro Media, which co-produced

  La Última Copa

  , has also released popular podcasts in the last two years such as

  LOUD: The History of Reggaeton.

  and

  Anything for Selena

  .

• NPR, the public radio network that has achieved great success with podcasts like

  Serial

  , already hosts

  Radio Ambulante

  ,

  which is completely in Spanish and tells Latin American stories.

Details

:

is led by Jasmine Garsd, an Argentine-American journalist, and is launched this November 10 before the start of the World Cup in Qatar.

"Football is never just football: it is a window to understand the world."

Jasmine Garsd HOST OF 'THE LAST CUP'

• It tells the story of how Messi became the best footballer in the world by leaving his homeland for a Spanish football club, but continued in the Argentine national team for international cups and ended up struggling under the pressure to represent the country he had left behind.

  That narrative is intertwined with Garsd's story: she and her family had to leave Buenos Aires around the same time as Messi in the midst of a huge crisis, but she always longed to return.

• All five episodes will be available in English and Spanish, but Garsd stresses that the versions will not be the same.

• "There are jokes and references that work in Spanish and not in English," the journalist told Axios Latino.

  "The person who listens to this in Spanish is not only listening to a dubbed version of the podcast," she added, because "each one has his personality and shines on its own."

Quick count

: Messi, now 35, said this World Cup, which starts on November 21, will be his last cup.

• He left Argentina two decades ago when his family was struggling to stay afloat, unable to pay for the hormone treatments he needed for an altitude problem.

  FC Barcelona offered to pay for the injections, and Messi made his professional debut in Spain in 2003. But when he was given the choice between playing for the Spanish or Argentine national team, he chose the latter.

• He has won the prestigious Ballon d'Or a record seven times, but has always faced criticism as many in Argentina felt he was not delivering for the national team.

  Like when he lost the 2014 World Cup final.

In his own words

: "Football is never just football," Garsd says, "it's a window to understand the world."

• And so the podcast serves as an avenue to talk about the immigrant experience and all the fears, alienation and feelings that come with it.

  "The longing to return, the fear of not being able to return, to return and feel like a foreigner in your own land…", Garsd tells Axios Latino.

4. Summary of key news in Latin America and the Caribbean 

1. A

Peruvian

 on Monday recommended that President Pedro Castillo be banned from holding public office for five years for allegedly committing "treason against the fatherland" when he said he would consider giving Bolivia an outlet to the sea.

Aerial shot of a protest in Lima, Peru, against Pedro Castillo on November 6. Ernesto Benavides/AFP via Getty Images

• The commission's report was made public as Parliament is about to debate a criminal charge against Castillo, accused of a bribery scheme for public contracts (he denies all charges).

• A commission is scheduled to begin discussion of that criminal indictment on Wednesday.

  Depending on the vote, Castillo would face a vacancy process, a sort of political trial.

2. The ruling party in Nicaragua

 was declared the winner in all the country's municipalities after disputed local elections this Sunday, criticized after reports of voter intimidation and arrests.

• The Electoral Council, linked to the Sandinista National Liberation Front, withdrew the registrations of most opposition parties last year.

  The local FSLN candidates had practically no competition this Sunday.

• In addition, in July the FSLN seized five mayoralties that were previously governed by the opposition.

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