Angry Latinos Want to Reshape Arizona Politics

Organizers hope for a repeat of what happened in California in '90s
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 6, 2010 6:00 PM CDT
Angry Latinos Want to Reshape Arizona Politics
Demonstrators protest Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration outside Dodger Stadium in May.   (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

Latino activists are canvassing hard in Arizona, looking to capitalize on anger against the new immigration law through the potentially powerful Hispanic electorate. Latinos account for about 30% of Arizona's population and are the largest growing demographic group. Activists hope an active, organized electorate can change the state's conservative approach to immigration and other issues, the LA Times reports. (The Justice Department today filed suit to stop the law from taking effect.)

The activists have a precedent in California, where popular anger against a controversial immigration law—in this case, 1994's Proposition 187—mobilized the Latino vote, which put the state back under the control of Democrats. "It's the same energy I saw with 187," says a union official who was part of the voter registration effort in California.
(More immigration stories.)

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