Sunday, June 07, 2009

One Nation, Indivisible: Hispanic Americans


hsmapusa, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

There are just 5 states with counties that have majority Hispanic populations: Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. 51 combines counties in all. Again, gray areas are those with no Hispanic residents and green where Hispanic citizens form less that 1% of the total population: Maine and West Virginia jump out in this category. And the range of the ecru is from 1 to 14% and so it's a little misleading in that the ecru in Michigan represents percentages hugging 1% and those in New Jersey range closer to 12%. But I deliberately chose 14%, because I think it's a threshold percentage toward political enfranchisement. With 15% or more of the population, it's possible to have an appreciable effect on the political landscape of a jurisdiction. Below that, no so much. With majority of Hispanic Americans trending toward the Democratic Party, and the majority being younger and trending toward the generally progressive leanings of the under 30 somethings, I have my eyes fixed on Texas in the 2012 presidential election. We already know that this demographic effected the Democratic tsunami in New Mexico and the switch from red to blue of Nevada. And if I were one of the three Cuban American representatives from south Florida, I'd be watching my back for 2010.

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