Coalition wants to convince Hispanics Bush is their man

Kirsten Searer

Friday, May 28, 2004 | 11:04 a.m.

Though most Hispanic voters in Nevada cast ballots for Al Gore in 2000, supporters of President Bush said Thursday they hope to convince Latino voters to vote their way in 2004.

A state coalition of Hispanic leaders called "Viva Bush" gathered Thursday in Las Vegas to say there are plenty of Republican issues that should appeal to Hispanic voters.

There are also plenty of Hispanic voters, according to Andres Ramirez, a political consultant, who says there are about 68,000 registered active voters with Hispanic surnames statewide, 55,175 of whom are in Clark County.

The number can only grow, as the population itself grows faster than the population in general. From 1990 to 2000, Hispanics went from 124,419 to 393,970 statewide, according to the census -- a growth rate of more than 250 percent. The most recent census estimates, from 2002, put the Hispaic population of Clark County at 358,503.

Ramirez, who works with a voter registration project called Voices for Working Families, said most of Hispanic voters are registered as Democrats -- about 57.7 percent in Clark County. Nearly 25 percent register as Republicans, 14.7 as nonpartisans, and the remaining voters are with different independent parties.

Thursday, Attorney General Brian Sandoval told a gathering of about 50 that Hispanics should pay attention to Bush's support for education, jobs and a ban on partial-birth abortions.

He also pointed out that, for the first time, most minorities own their own homes.

"Latinos are no longer part of the Democratic base," he said. "You know why? Because they're tired of being taken for granted."

Mario Rodriguez, a regional campaign chairman who helps oversee California, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii, said the Bush campaign hopes to organize grass-roots efforts that will specifically target Hispanics by telling them that Bush has supported Hispanics for years.

"It comes from his heart," Rodriguez said. "Why? Because it's the right thing to do."

Local businesswoman Leticia Gardea said that some Hispanics are reluctant to get involved in the political process because they worry their vote won't matter.

"We have to go out and sacrifice and break down those barriers that are intimidating the grass-roots efforts of our country," she said.

"One person at a time," she said. "It's all education and saying how one person's vote can make a difference."

Sandoval said this is the first time Republicans have coordinated such efforts to reach out to the Hispanic community in Nevada.

Sen. John Kerry's Nevada campaign also is expected to have an outreach committee to appeal to Hispanic voters, said spokesman Sean Smith.

"We are going to aggressively court the Latino vote in Nevada," he said.

He said that 64 percent of Nevada Hispanics voted for Gore in 2000, compared with 36 percent of Hispanics who voted for Bush.