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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Camila Gallardo
cgallardo@nclr.org
(305)215-4259
KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Tight races for U.S. Senate and governor have positioned Kansas’s growing Latino electorate to be a deciding factor in the upcoming midterm elections. NCLR (National Council of La Raza) President and CEO Janet Murguía traveled to Kansas City, Kan. today to urge the state’s Hispanic community to vote in November. Murguía was joined at the event by Irene Caudillo, President and CEO of El Centro Inc., and Representative Louis Ruiz, both of whom echoed the call to get out the vote. Latinos currently account for 5.5 percent of the state’s electorate, or about 120,000 voters. As it stands, the margin of victory in both races is currently less than the total percentage of Latino voters in the state.
“In order to translate our growing numbers into political clout, we must make sure that every eligible Hispanic registers to vote and that every registered Latino voter in Kansas casts a ballot on Election Day,” said Murguía. “In these especially close races, Kansas’s Hispanic electorate is not an afterthought; it’s a kingmaker.”
Over the last decade, the Hispanic population in Kansas has skyrocketed, exceeding growth estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. In fact, between 2000 and 2010, the number of Latinos in the state jumped by 60 percent. Just over 300,000 Latinos currently reside in the state. To highlight this emerging Hispanic community, NCLR will hold the 2015 NCLR Annual Conference in Kansas City next July.
“The Hispanic population may still be relatively small in Kansas, but we are politically powerful,” said Caudillo. “In November, we will be the difference and send a clear message to Kansas’s politicians that the issues that matter to our community cannot be ignored.”
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