In Contests Big and Small, Latinos Take Historic Leap

It took more than 100 years, but Latino politicians in California have finally picked up the torch from legends like Romualdo Pacheco, a descendant of California’s original Spanish settlers, who in 1871 became the last Latino elected to statewide office. They no longer will have to hark back to the memory of Martin Aguirre, the last Latino sheriff of Los Angeles County, who turned over his badge in 1890.

On Tuesday, Latino politicians made historic gains across California, with Cruz Bustamante’s victory in the race for lieutenant governor and Lee Baca’s in the campaign for Los Angeles County sheriff, followed by similar triumphs in legislative and municipal contests from Sacramento to the Inland Empire.

Statewide, Latinos increased their ranks by three in the state Senate and three in the Assembly, including Lou Correa’s surprising defeat of incumbent Jim Morrissey (R-Anaheim) in the 69th Assembly District.

In San Jose, Ron Gonzales became the first Latino mayor of a major California city since statehood was achieved. San Jose had not elected a Latino mayor since the Mexican alcaldes ruled in the 1840s.

“I think it’s about time; it’s long overdue,” said Antonio Gonzalez of the Southwest Voter Registration Project, which has worked to expand Latino voting since the 1970s. “This is a large step forward on the continuum toward fairness and equity in California government.”

Latino gains mirrored a larger trend toward the diversification of the California electorate, a pattern first seen earlier this decade and only now beginning to bear fruit in the statewide arena.

Even without “wedge issues” such as immigration reform and affirmative action on the ballot, Latinos, blacks and Asians voted in record numbers. According to a Times exit poll, Latino voters made up 13% of the electorate, significantly more than the 8% of 1994. Blacks also constituted 13% of the electorate, a dramatic increase from the 5% of 1994.

Susan Pinkus, director of the Times Poll, said the increase in the black vote may have been an outgrowth of the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal and President Clinton’s efforts in the final days of the campaign to court African Americans.

“Black voters have always been the most supportive of Clinton,” Pinkus said. “I think they were pretty upset with the attacks on him.”

Although Matt Fong won the Asian vote only narrowly (51% to 48% according to the Times Poll), his presence on the ballot may explain a large increase in the number of Asian voters, who made up 8% of the electorate this year, double the percentage of 1994.

“We’re seeing a pattern of minorities coming out to vote more,” said Pinkus. Among Latinos, there hasn’t been a single large influx of voters, she said, but instead a series of incremental gains with each election this decade.

Minority groups voted overwhelmingly for Gov.-elect Gray Davis, with 76% of blacks, 71% of Latinos and 65% of Asians supporting him.

Victories Even Where Latinos Lack a Majority

Latinos managed to win Tuesday even in districts and cities where they don’t constitute a majority of the electorate. Latinos make up only 14% of the voters in San Jose, where Gonzales, a former county supervisor, won a narrow victory over City Councilwoman Pat Dando.

Knowing he could count on strong support on San Jose’s predominantly Latino Eastside, Gonzales focused his efforts on the Westside, said campaign manager Leslee Hamilton.

Although ethnicity never became a subject of debate in the campaign, a source close to Gonzales said he encountered a few puzzled looks and upsetting remarks from white residents as he campaigned in their neighborhoods.

At one fund-raiser, a voter walked up to Gonzales and said, “I’m surprised you don’t have an accent,” according to one of the mayor-elect’s supporters.

“This is a huge step forward,” the supporter added. “But there’s a long way to go until your skin color and your name don’t matter.”

Nearby Salinas elected its first Latino and first female mayor, Anna Caballero.

Hopes among Chinese Americans that Fong might achieve a victory as historic as Bustamante’s were dashed.

Paul Zee, a Chinese American former mayor of South Pasadena, said he was disappointed that Fong lost by such a large margin. He had hoped that more Asian Democrats would cross over and vote for Fong, a Republican.

Another poll, by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, hinted at the diversity of the Asian vote. That poll, conducted in various Los Angeles County and Orange County neighborhoods, showed Fong winning 72% of the Chinese American vote.

The Asian Pacific poll was conducted in Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Vietnamese and Cambodian, just a few of the languages spoken by Asian Americans.

Campaigns reaching out to Latino voters had to worry about just two languages, English and Spanish.

Indeed, no campaign this century had as much of a Spanish feel as this one, with candidates of all persuasions taking to the airwaves of Spanish-language media.

Even Dan Lungren made a plea on Spanish television for “su voto.” The same stations broadcast Democratic commercials showing Lungren joining hands in a victory clasp with Pete Wilson--the outgoing governor who has been portrayed as a boogeyman in the Latino media since he led the campaign for Proposition 187, the anti-illegal immigration measure.

Democrats with Spanish surnames received glossy mailers with bilingual appeals to orgullo Latino--Latino pride. The mailing, from the Democratic Party, urged voters to “send Wilson and Lungren a message: We haven’t forgotten what you did.”

Many Democratic leaders saw in Tuesday’s results the closing of a chapter in California political history that began when rhetoric against illegal immigration helped propel Wilson to reelection in 1994.

“Four years ago we were scapegoated and used as political fodder,” said Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles). “Now that era is over. Thank God.”

Others attributed the good showing in legislative races to the efforts of Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) and state Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles), who funneled millions of dollars in campaign funds to Latino candidates.

In the San Joaquin Valley, Dean Flores scored a stunning victory over incumbent Assemblyman Robert Prenter Jr. (R-Hanford). Assemblyman Joe Baca (D-Rialto) will become the first Latino state senator from the Inland Empire.

On what was otherwise a dark day for the GOP, Latino Republicans gave their party a few rays of hope. Republican Robert Pacheco won the race to replace outgoing Assemblyman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) in the suburban 60th District. Charlene Zettel (nee Gonzales) held a seat for the GOP in the 75th Assembly District in San Diego County.

For Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute in Claremont, Tuesday’s victories signal the end of an era in which Latino politics was a term reserved for a few, isolated urban barrios.

“You can’t say that Latino politics are just Eastside issues anymore,” he said. “Not with Pachecos and Ortizes getting elected all over the state.”

Luis Arteaga of the San Francisco-based Latino Issues Forum attributed many of the victories to term limits, which opened seats in Democratic-leaning districts without Latino majorities. On Tuesday, many Latino Democrats rode to victory on the coattails of Davis’ 20-point shellacking of Lungren.

Assemblywoman Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont), the daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, was elected to the state Senate in the 10th District, replacing outgoing Sen. Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward). In Sacramento, Deborah Ortiz easily defeated Chris Quackenbush in the 6th Senate District.

“It’s exciting to see places like Fremont and Sacramento, which are not Latino strongholds, elect Latino candidates,” Arteaga said.

Latinos helped the Democratic Party make surprising inroads in Orange County.

Correa put almost 800 workers in the field on election day, including hundreds of Latino youth, among them virtually the entire Saddleback High School wrestling team.

On Tuesday night, Correa battled until the last moment, turning out voters who had just gotten off work. Five minutes before the polls closed, he was rounding up a last voter and standing at the end of a line of people waiting to vote.

The nearly full moon glistening on the sweat of his bald head, Correa summed up the effort.

“We had very good community support,” he said. “And we were right on the issues: health care, minimum wage, education, the need for more schools.”

Orange County Republicans also made a strong effort to reach Latino voters, said Art Montez of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

“I have to give credit to the Republicans, because they called me no less than every other day to vote,” said Montez, a Democrat who lives in Anaheim. “They were trying to get us to cross over, and in doing so they reminded us that we needed to vote.

“All of a sudden, we were getting a lot of invitations to go to the dance,” he said. “But we decided to dance with a different partner.”

Times staff writers Eric Bailey and K. Connie Kang contributed to this story.

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