The Latina Vote, with Sonja Diaz

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: One of the many stories out of the 2024 election was President Trump’s improved performance with voters of color. While voter data is still being analyzed, it is clear that the former and future president made significant inroads in 2024 with constituencies with whom he has historically lagged, notably Latinos. For a politician who based his first presidential campaign on a promise to build a wall between the US and Mexico and referring to Mexican immigrants as drug dealers, criminals and rapists, ANY improvement is a big shift.

But, that shift was not uniform: While a majority of Latino men favored Trump in November, three in five Latina voters supported Vice President Kamala Harris, rejecting Trump for the third time. Why the disparity between Latinas/Latinos, and could the Democrats have done more outreach to this crucial constituency?

Our guest today is Sonja Diaz, a civil rights attorney and former policy advisor to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and Co-Founder of the Latina Futures 2050 Lab. Prior to starting the Latina Futures, 2050 Lab, Diaz co-founded and directed the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, the first comprehensive think tank within the University of California system dedicated to addressing the policy needs of the nation’s second-largest racial/ethnic group.

Plus, Who had the Worst Week in California Politics?

Show Notes:

1:13 The Latina Futures 2050 Lab

4:29 Policy advisor to AG Kamala Harris

6:17 Latinas make up 12% of all female voters

13:19 A deeper systematic problem?

15:25 “Persuadability exists in very narrow forms”

19:11 The Special Session

24:59 #WWCA