‘Politicians . . . will have to articulate Anglo concerns as well as Latino concerns.’ --Everto Ruiz,Professor of Chicano studies, CSUN : Longoria Breaks Ethnic Mold in Effort to Unseat Weintraub

In the weeks before she formally announced that she was running to represent the East San Fernando Valley on the Los Angeles school board, many political observers were asking, “Who is Mary Louise Longoria?”

As her campaign to unseat Roberta Weintraub has quietly gained credibility and momentum, the question isn’t being asked much anymore. The 48-year-old consultant to the county Human Relations Commission has become a familiar figure at gatherings of community groups.

But Longoria’s candidacy represents something larger than just a challenge to an established incumbent. She is one of the first of a new wave of East Valley Latino politicians who say they realize that the only way Latinos can be elected is to appeal to a broad spectrum of registered voters.

Must Include Anglo Concerns

“There are great blocs of Latinos developing here in the Valley and there is a lot of potential for a Latino vote,” said Everto Ruiz, a professor of Chicano studies at California State University, Northridge. “But, because the population is so dispersed, politicians running for major offices will have to articulate Anglo concerns as well as Latino concerns.”

The heaviest concentration of Latinos is in the East Valley. San Fernando, Pacoima, Lake View Terrace and Sylmar have historically had large Latino populations. But the Latino population in other East Valley communities has also started to grow. For example, 26% of the 30,869 residents of Mission Hills are Latino, according to Los Angeles County demographic surveys. Almost 23% of North Hollywood’s 93,224 residents are Latino. About 24% of Panorama City’s population and 19% of the residents of Van Nuys are Latino.

Although Latinos in these communities may still be in the minority, they represent the majority in many of the neighborhood schools. In some cases, the large number of Latino students has caused crowding and placed great demands on special services offered by the school district.

The ‘Latino Candidate’

Other East Valley Latinos have run for major political office. Sylmar resident Jose Galvan, for instance, ran in the 1979 recall election involving former school board president Howard Miller. Weintraub was the winner of that contest.

When Galvan ran for the school board, and later in 1981 when he ran for City Council, he stated that he was running to represent Latino interests. But Longoria has placed special emphasis on not appearing to be just the “Latino candidate.”

“Before I began this campaign, I talked to people in Studio City, Sherman Oaks and Sunland as well as people in Van Nuys, Panorama City and North Hollywood,” Longoria said. “We share concerns, and I have to get the message across that I plan to represent all the people of the district, not just some of the people.”

This type of Latino political activity, says Cal State Northridge’s Ruiz, differs from that of a decade ago.

Gained a Foothold

“Five or 10 years ago, most of the political activity was confrontational,” he said. “It was more of a case of Chicanos trying to get into the system. Now, these same people have gotten a foothold into the established political parties, and they are trying to broaden their coalitions and turn their presence into real political clout.”

The new generation of Latino politician had its first taste of victory about a year ago when cable television executive Jess Margarito was elected to the San Fernando City Council.

Margarito was the top vote-getter after an intense door-to-door campaign in that city’s Latino community. But, unlike previous Latinos running for office in San Fernando, Margarito campaigned in the mostly Anglo residential areas in the city’s northern section.

“The Margarito campaign proved, on a small scale, that when a good candidate is presented the entire community, Anglo and Latino, will come out and vote for that person,” said Raymond Magana, president of the Mexican American Political Assn. (MAPA).

The formation of MAPA marks another important stage in the growth of East Valley Latino political strength. Less than a year old, the Valley chapter of MAPA has already started to test its strength in several areas, including Longoria’s campaign. MAPA pledged half its treasury and promised to staff the Longoria campaign with volunteers.

A public school teacher for 19 years, a USC doctoral candidate in education policy, planning and administration, Longoria began quietly testing the political waters months ago by meeting with leaders of East Valley community groups to see if there were enough support for her candidacy.

Wherever she went, Longoria repeated several themes as the reason why she is running for the school board. She said that there is an important need for counseling services at the elementary level in order to spot children with problems. She said she would work for better salaries for teachers, investigate purchasing land adjacent to crowded schools in order to construct new buildings, and make sure that vocational classes offered high school students can be translated into jobs.

Strategy in Final Days

Once she had established her base of support in the northeast part of the Valley, Longoria began going to Weintraub strongholds such as Studio City and Sherman Oaks.

According to Magana, as the Longoria race enters the last days before Tuesday’s election, the strategy is to make East Valley residents aware of Longoria and reinforce the importance of voting, combining old-fashioned grass-roots campaigning and sophisticated computer politics. Longoria volunteers will be walking door-to-door in key precincts. This personal contact will be followed up with telephone calls. In addition, there will be at least one mailer sent to likely Longoria voters identified through computer lists.

Magana sees the Longoria candidacy as a turning point for Latino politicians in the East Valley.

“No matter what happens, we will have won,” he said. “We have all learned a lot from this campaign, and we will use this knowledge in the future. We have shown that a Latino politician can be a viable and credible candidate and someone who can appeal to all segments of a political community.”