The politics of ethnicity
The growing power of the Hispanic vote
October 3, 2001 Posted: 1:15 PM EDT (1715 GMT)
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Mayoral candidate, Orlando Sanchez, right, campaigns door to door
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By Joel Hochmuth
CNN
(CNN) -- The race for mayor in Houston, Texas, provides a unique look into the diversity of the Hispanic vote in the United States.
Among the three top contenders is Councilman Orlando Sanchez, who hopes to become Houston's first Hispanic mayor.
On the surface, at least, it would seem he has a good shot, since the city's Hispanic population has blossomed over the last 10 years to nearly 750,000 -- the largest ethnic group in the city.
But the politics isn't that simple.
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CNN's Joel Hochmuth talks with Hispanic Houston mayoral candidate Orlando Sanchez
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Sanchez is a Republican-leaning Cuban-American; Democratic-leaning Mexican-Americans dominate the city's Hispanics.
The non-partisan election November 6 may well indicate where Latinos' strongest loyalties lie: with a name or with a political party.
Sanchez is counting on the former. Throughout the campaign he's walked the streets of Latino neighborhoods, introducing himself to potential voters - often in Spanish.
As a Cuban-American immigrant, he said, he has a lot in common with Mexican-Americans. "My family has gone through the same struggles that they have gone through," he said. "I know the difficulties. These people understand that I understand."
At least one voter seems convinced. Caroline Ponce, who is of Mexican heritage and a self-described life-long Democrat, counts herself in Sanchez's corner, political differences notwithstanding.
"I would like for him to be in office, being that he is Hispanic," said Ponce.
She didn't change her mind, even when told Sanchez is a Cuban-American:
"It doesn't make any difference," she said.
Indeed, a poll conducted by the University of Houston Center for Public Policy at Rice University, and published in the Houston Chronicle in late September, shows Sanchez is holding his own against incumbent Mayor Lee Brown. When potential voters were asked whom they would vote for if there were a runoff election between the two candidates, respondents were nearly split down the middle.
More than 38 percent of the voters polled said they would pick Brown, but Sanchez was close on his heels with almost 36 percent support. More than 27 percent polled said they didn't know which candidate would get their vote on Election Day.
Even if Sanchez is successful in his bid to win over the Hispanic community, he faces an uphill battle.
Get out the vote
First, Hispanics turn out at the polls at a lower rate than any other ethnic group in the city. While they make up about 37 percent of the city's population, they comprised only about 9 percent of the voters in the last mayoral election, according to University of Houston political science professor Richard Murray.
"They are working extremely long hours often," Murray said. "They really don't have much time for politics in this culture. You can't win by mobilizing Hispanics in Houston yet, but they are, year by year, becoming a more significant voting block in this city."
Sanchez is up against other obstacles as well. He faces two formidable and better-financed candidates: incumbent Brown and fellow Councilman Chris Bell.
Brown, a former New York City police commissioner and drug policy chief in the Clinton administration, is Houston's first African-American mayor.
"A Hispanic candidate like Sanchez has to work much harder than Lee Brown does," said Murray. "Lee Brown will have 97 percent of the Black voters behind him. He just has to turn them out."
If nothing else, Sanchez's candidacy has Brown on the defensive. The incumbent is quick to point out his administration set up a Hispanic advisory committee that he meets with on a daily basis. One of his closest political consultants is Mark Campos, a second-generation Mexican American, the mayor frequently notes.
"This mayor has done a lot for our community, and for us to turn our back on him is just not in the character of Hispanic leaders of Houston, Texas," said Campos.
Brown also harshly criticizes Sanchez for failing to support a variety of social programs, including affirmative action.
"For someone to vote against it they can't really represent a very important segment of our community," said Brown.
Sanchez responds that he's not against the concept of affirmative action. Instead, he opposes Houston's version of it.
"What I have said is that this city's current ordinance is unenforceable. They know that. We know that. And we're asking the taxpayers to pay for a program that cannot be enforced in a court of law," said Sanchez.
When campaigning, Sanchez prefers to talk about his promises to do something about nagging sewer problems and downtown streets that seem to be in a perpetual state of repair.
Asked if it's time Houston had a Hispanic mayor, Sanchez said, "I think it's time Houston (has) a mayor that takes care of the issues. And if that's a Hispanic, so be it."
Sanchez's formula for victory includes increasing Hispanic voter turnout and convincing enough conservative white voters that Bell, the only Anglo among the three leading candidates, is too liberal. Analysts say Sanchez is also calculating that should no single candidate get more than 50 percent of the vote in November, he could somehow win in a runoff.
"There's a real chance, it's not the most likely chance, but there's a real possibility that that's the way the race could play out," said Murray, the political scientist.
Whether Sanchez can pull off an upset won't be determined for a month or so. Even if he can't, he said his candidacy itself part of a larger victory for Hispanics all over the United States.
"We're just part of the fabric that is America. I see many cities across the nation now putting up Hispanic candidates, some winning, some not," he said. "But the fact of the matter is, the Hispanic community is going to participate and is going to make a contribution to the political process in this country."
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