The Lucha Libre That Is Latino Politics

You’ve heard the one about the sleeping giant. But how about lucha libre?

For several elections now I’ve tried to phase out the hoary cliches political analysts use to categorize the rapidly growing Latino vote in this country. Variations on “the sleeping giant is now awake” are the most common. But that metaphor is increasingly inaccurate because it implies that Latinos are a single-minded voting bloc.

The reality is much more complicated than that; Latinos are just as varied in their political views and voting habits as other Americans.

Last week’s California primary election--and next Tuesday’s primary voting in Texas, the state with the second-biggest number of Latino voters--brings to mind a better metaphor. Think of Latino politics as a free-for-all, like the popular Mexican wrestling shows known as lucha libre.

Like the sleeping giant in the old cliche, wrestlers are big and strong. But in lucha libre, several can be inside the ring at the same time. And when a match really gets going, it’s hard to determine not just who is going to win but who is on which side at any given moment.

Consider some California results from last week:

Los Angeles City Council President Alex Padilla and his political mentor, state Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Panorama City), suffered a setback in their effort to build a Latino political machine in the San Fernando Valley. Cardenas narrowly lost his bid for a vacant City Council seat to Wendy Greuel.

Meanwhile, the woman that Cardenas endorsed to replace him in the state Legislature, Yolanda Fuentes, lost to San Fernando Mayor Cindy Montanez. The results create a new dynamic in Los Angeles City Hall, where Padilla’s hold on the council presidency may now be at risk.

Another local Latino political brawl that got national attention was in a new congressional district in southeast Los Angeles County, which sprawls from Whittier to Hawaiian Gardens. That is where Linda Sanchez, a labor union official and sister of Orange County Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez, held off a challenge from South Gate City Councilman Hector de la Torre.

With fund-raising help from her sister, Linda Sanchez won by linking De La Torre with the notoriously nasty politics of South Gate, where virulent infighting has led to a corruption probe by the Los Angeles district attorney. Ironically, De La Torre is one of the few South Gate officials who has not been dragged into that probe. But that didn’t help him against the Sanchez sisters’ tag team.

There are at least two contests in next Tuesday’s primary in Texas that also fit the lucha libre metaphor.

The big matchup in that state is at the top of the ticket, where two Mexican American Democrats are vying for a chance to take on Republican Gov. Rick Perry in November.

Recently, former state Atty. Gen. Dan Morales, of San Antonio, and Tony Sanchez, a Laredo oilman and rancher, faced off in televised debates with a uniquely Tejano twist. The first hour was in English, the second in Spanish.

Texans are more at ease with English-Spanish bilingualism than Californians, so the campaign there has been heated in both languages. Morales accuses Sanchez, the scion of a wealthy south Texas family, of trying to buy the election. Sanchez says Morales is “embarrassed to be Hispanic.”

But the Texas race I find the most fascinating is further down the ballot. U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, one of three Latino Republicans in Congress, represents the 23rd District near San Antonio. He faces no opposition and will be nominated for another term. The unopposed Democrat who will run against Bonilla in November is former Texas Secretary of State Henry Cuellar.

Interestingly, Cuellar is getting financial help from a political action committee affiliated with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, of which Bonilla is a member.

The PAC in question is known by the acronym BOLD, for Build Our Leadership Diversity. It is headed by California Rep. Joe Baca (D-Rialto), who makes no apologies for opposing a Latino Republican if it will help Democrats win the six new seats they need to take control of Congress in November.

Baca also points to congressional votes on issues impacting small businesses and bilingual education where Bonilla voted contrary to the majority of Hispanic Caucus members, 18 of whom are Democrats. “He’s a Johnny-come-lately,” Baca says of his Republican colleague. “Too lately.”

Not surprisingly, Bonilla has blasted the Hispanic Caucus for partisanship in a statement issued by his office. “Simply put, the Hispanic Caucus is Democrats first, second and foremost,” he said.

With all due respect to Bonilla, it must also be noted that the 21 Hispanic Caucus members are, first and foremost, politicians. And politics, like lucha libre, is a contact sport.

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Frank del Olmo is an associate editor of the Times.