Redistricting remains up in the air

Erin Neff and Ed Koch

Monday, April 23, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

Hispanic community leaders have not yet decided the best route to take for a reapportionment that perhaps will put more Latinos in the Legislature, but they say it certainly will be a hot topic for them.

"Our board definitely will be discussing it," Teri Delatorre-Azeman, chief executive officer of the 32-year-old Nevada Association of Latin Americans, said today. "Right now we just don't know enough about it to commit one way or the other."

Two potential routes toward getting Hispanics a better shot at obtaining office include keeping the same number of seats in the Legislature as the Hispanic population booms or creating additional Assembly and Senate seats with 51 percent or more Hispanics in the new districts.

Fernando Romero, an activist and former president of Hispanics in Politics, has asked lawmakers to expand the size of the Legislature. He said more young Hispanics could get their feet wet in politics if new seats were created.

"I would love to have the opportunity for incumbent-free districts," Romero said.

After Saturday's public hearing on the matter, several lawmakers met with Hispanic leaders to discuss options, although no one, including the elected representatives, seems to know which way the Legislature is heading.

At that meeting lawmakers were told that drawing a political district with a large majority of Hispanics won't guarantee one of their own getting elected.

A case brought up frequently during meetings Friday and Saturday regarded Assembly District 28, which is 73 percent Hispanic. A white woman, Vonne Chowning, bested two Latinos for the seat, however.

Chowning said today that she represents a virtual melting pot and that she got elected by working hard with all of the groups, including sincere efforts to help the Hispanic community.

"I taught Spanish for many years and speak Spanish fluently," Chowning said. "Working in real estate, I help numerous Hispanic families go from home renters to homeowners. And I can proudly say no other legislator has done what I have in the area of helping non-English-speaking children in our schools."

In short, Chowning said, it's not the color or the ethnic background of the candidate that people vote for -- it's the candidate. She said a Hispanic who works hard in a heavily white district also could get elected to the Legislature.

Delatorre-Azeman said that although work is needed in educating Hispanics about the importance of community involvement and registering to vote, there are talented Hispanics locally who would make good lawmakers. Among them, she said, are County Commissioner Dario Herrera, banker Eloiza Martinez and Latin Chamber of Commerce member Horacio Lopez.

Legislators heard public comment Friday night and Saturday morning about how they should proceed with their mandated duty to reapportion the state's various political districts based on the 2000 Census.

Most of the time was spent discussing how to better represent Hispanics in Southern Nevada.

Before the public can tell legislators how to draw lines, they need to know something the lawmakers themselves don't yet know -- How big will the Legislature be?

"There is a good argument that the more seats that are out there, the more opportunity we have to elect someone of our choice," local attorney Tony Sanchez told the Assembly Elections, Procedures and Ethics Committee Saturday at the Sawyer State Office Building.

But Sanchez also warned that simply adding districts with 51, 53 or 57 percent Hispanic populations "is not going to get the job done."

Since Clark County's population has boomed to roughly 69 percent of the state's total, Southern Nevada would gain one and a partial Senate and three Assembly seats from northern counties if the Legislature remains at 63 people.

Expanding the Legislature by two Senate and four Assembly seats would allow northern counties to keep their representatives and possibly lead to overwhelmingly Hispanic districts in the South, since Latinos now comprise roughly 25 percent of Clark County's population.

Only one of the current 63 legislators, Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, has Hispanic roots.

Assemblyman Joe Dini, D-Yerington, said it wouldn't matter how many Hispanics were in a district.

"You could create a 75-25 percent district," Dini said via teleconference from Carson City. "It doesn't mean a Hispanic will get elected.

"You need the right candidate," he said.

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