Republicans open Hispanic outreach center in Las Cruces ahead of midterms

LAS CRUCES — Local Republican Party voters, volunteers, organizers and candidates in this year’s general election gathered inside a South Solano strip mall unit to announce the opening of a GOP outreach center targeting Hispanic voters.

At the center, people interested in learning about Republican Party politics, registering to vote, volunteering with the party on a campaign or at the polls can walk in five days a week, and sometimes on Saturdays, according to Mercedes Provencio Hollister, who will run the center.

Provencio Hollister, who’s the center’s regional Hispanic event coordinator, said she encourages any Hispanic voters interested in the center “to come in and inquire so that they know what we’re all about.”

Some groups will likely hold regularly scheduled meetings at the center, which is at 201 S. Solano Drive in Las Cruces.

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State GOP Chair Steve Pearce presided over an intimate ceremony Wednesday with several dozen party members and candidates, including U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-N.M., to announce the goals of the RNC Hispanic Community Center, which is sponsored by the Republican National Committee.

In a video message, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Democrats “take Hispanics for granted” and that the Republicans have an opportunity to “earn” their votes.

This is the 37th Republican Hispanic Community Center nationwide. The centers are an example of the GOP’s efforts to grow its Hispanic voting base after former President Donald Trump made gains with the demographic in some counties and precincts in 2020, according to FiveThirtyEight. Gallup polling from 2021 has showed most Hispanics still identify as Democrats.

"While Yvette Herrell and national Republicans decided to court Hispanic voters eight weeks out from Election Day, Democrats have been engaging Hispanic voters here from day one with a message that resonates," Maddy Mundy, a spokesperson with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement to the Sun-News.

Pearce spoke about the importance of GOP candidates and organizers spending time to build connections with Hispanic voters, not just at political rallies but by sitting down with them in their homes or communicating over meals. He also spoke about the effectiveness of having Spanish speakers in their ranks to break language barriers and talk about Republican values with voters who don’t speak English.

“Faith and food binds the gap,” Herrell said.

“Everyone will get to use this office,” Herrell added. “And we want it to be community-centered.”

The center’s purpose “is basically to put Republicans into communities where I think we’ve been lax in the past,” Pearce said.

Herrell, who is running for a second term in the hotly contested second congressional race in a district that now leans blue, said hers is the only district in the country with two Hispanic community centers. The other center is in Albuquerque. Pearce represented the district in Congress for 14 years.

Herrell's main opponent is former Las Cruces City Councilor Gabe Vasquez, the Democrat's nominee. Vasquez is a Hispanic man and a first-generation American. While Vasquez is bilingual, Herrell said on Wednesday she does not speak Spanish herself.

Vasquez's campaign is utilizing Hispanic organizers from the district who have community ties, running weekly Spanish language canvassing and phone banking events and claims it's the only campaign of the Congressional race utilizing Hispanic broadcast to communicate with voters, according to a campaign spokesperson.

Though CD2 has since been redrawn, 2020 U.S. Census figures showed about 55.8 percent of the district identified as Hispanic.

Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, mmcdevitt@lcsun-news.com or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Republicans open up Hispanic outreach center in Las Cruces