Harris to address conference of Latino elected officials

Vice President Harris will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) annual conference, the group announced Wednesday.

The 2022 conference will take place in Chicago, and it will be the group’s first in-person conference since 2019.

“It is an honor to have Vice President Kamala Harris join us as we gather Latino leaders in Chicago for the nation’s largest Latino political convention,” said NALEO Educational Fund CEO Arturo Vargas.

Harris’s presence at a Hispanic policymakers’ forum comes as the vice president has struggled to find her place in a crisis-laden administration, particularly taking heat over her management of the regional migration portfolio.

For Harris, a California native, the NALEO speech is an opportunity to connect with a Hispanic power structure that holds particular sway in the West.

“With this year marking our first in-person Conference in three years, we are thrilled to facilitate this great opportunity for NALEO members and Latino policymakers across the country to connect with our nation’s leadership,” said Vargas.

And the administration’s decision to send a top official to NALEO’s 39th annual conference is a signal of its interest in Hispanic voters.

NALEO is a nonpartisan grouping of the country’s more than 6,800 Hispanic elected officials.

While Latinos are much more likely to vote for Democrats nationwide, Republican efforts in targeted Hispanic communities have paid off, creating a narrative of a Hispanic “swing” toward the GOP.

In the most recent congressional special election, GOP Rep. Mayra Flores (Texas) beat Democratic contender Dan Sánchez in an 85 percent Hispanic district in South Texas.

Despite minimal turnout in the special election to replace former Rep. Filemón Vela (D-Texas), Republicans touted the win as a signal of a rightward shift among Hispanics.

In a recent presentation on NALEO’s predictions for the Latino vote in 2022, Vargas remarked on the importance of direct outreach to Latino voters.

“We need to ensure that they are motivated that they are contacted by candidates and parties because that individual contact and touch is what drives Latino voter turnout,” said Vargas.

“So our call to candidates and parties is don’t take the Latino vote for granted. Whether you’re Democrat or Republican, you have the opportunity to reach out to Latino voters if you invest in this electorate,” he added.

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