THE BUZZ: SKIPPING SPANISH — Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey will take the stage again tonight, this time for a debate co-moderated by NBC4 and Telemundo 52. It will be one of their best opportunities to speak to Latino Californians — a critical voting bloc that has so far seen little outreach in the race, particularly on the airwaves. Latinos make up about 40 percent of California's population and 8.5 million of its eligible voters. By some estimates, Latinos represent one of out every four likely voters in California. But candidates haven’t mounted pricey Spanish-language campaigns on broadcast — even as a recent poll found a sizable share of Latino voters hadn’t made up their minds. Schiff, the frontrunner, who has so far poured $23 million into advertising, spent $69,000 on a Spanish digital ad at the end of January, according to the AdImpact tracker. The ad touted how “Adam Schiff se enfrenta a las peleas difíciles.” (“Adam Schiff faces the tough fights.”) He’s also running targeted Spanish language ads on Facebook that feature Latino leaders, like Assemblymember Avelino Valencia. Porter this month spent more than $200,000 on a biographical Spanish-language TV ad, “Ya Basta” (“Enough already”), according to the ad tracker, in which she tells her story of growing up on a farm and promises to tackle high housing and pharmaceutical costs. Not all Latino voters speak Spanish, but the in-language advertising tends to speak directly to a group of voters and can help people identify with a candidate. "This is a huge missed opportunity for any of the Senate candidates, including Schiff,” said Roger Salazar, a longtime California Democratic consultant who has run multiple statewide campaigns. “And especially with the resources that [Schiff] has, it just boggles my mind that they wouldn't spend more on Latino outreach." Latinos have historically had lower turnout rates than other ethnic groups, though some data indicates that’s changing — with Latino voter turnout expected to increase by more than 6 percent in California's general elections this year. But that still hasn’t prompted a robust outreach from the statewide campaigns. "I haven't seen a whole lot," Arturo Vargas, CEO of NALEO educational fund, said of the candidates’ outreach. "To say that there is somebody out there who is really going above and beyond to reach out to the Latino vote — that I really don't see." Porter’s campaign noted she was the first candidate to have a Spanish language option on her website (Lee and Schiff also now have the option), and that she has outperformed her competitors on polling with Latino voters. Garvey’s team said it publishes both English and Spanish versions of his social media posts (he has 8,400 followers on X) and pointed out that the Los Angeles Dodgers have a significant Latino following. Lee’s campaign, which has lagged behind others in fundraising, said Latino outreach is at the heart of her operation, noting that it has a dedicated press specialist to communicate with Latino and other ethnic media outlets, Latino organizers who are driving outreach within the community, and a targeted phone outreach program. Schiff’s campaign said it is doing a seven-figure outreach to Latino voters in Spanish and English, which includes targeted ads in Univision, Telemundo, and La Opinión. The campaign also said it is focusing on streaming and digital platforms, noting that many Latinos, especially younger voters, are moving away from traditional television. Schiff has been endorsed by CHIRLA, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, and La Opinión. The three Democrats over the weekend also participated in a forum with Univision, where they spoke about immigration, housing and a path to citizenship. Yet, no candidate has managed to win over a large portion of the Latino electorate. A California Elections and Policy Poll, conducted late last month by researchers at the University of Southern California, showed Porter with the highest support among Latinos, 19 percent, followed by Garvey at 16 percent, Schiff at 14 percent and Lee at 6 percent. The largest segment, 31 percent, said they were undecided. "If you keep excluding the Hispanic community from these conversations, I think it's unfair and it does a disservice to the electorate,” Salazar said. “And frankly, it's a bad political strategy." GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Now you can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. He is expected to be in Washington, D.C. for most of the week. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment