Iowa low on Latino lawmakers

DES MOINES — Joe Enriquez Henry remains upset with a state law passed in 2002 that requires all Iowa voter registration materials be printed in English only.

Henry, the national vice president for the Midwest region of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, said the law is a prime example of legislation that can pass when government is not reflective of the population it represents.

'It's important to have a representative government,' Henry said.

Henry is one of more than 170,000 Latinos living in Iowa, according to state data. Latinos make up more than 5 percent of the state's population — and that figure is growing — but there are no Latinos among the 150 members of the lawmaking Iowa Legislature.

Even including local elected officials, Latinos comprise a scant two-tenths of 1 percent of all elected officials across the state, according to research by the Latino Political Network, which was established roughly a year ago to help Latinos run for elected office.

'That's just a dismal percentage,' said Rob Barron, who co-founded the network with Omar Padilla. Both are former staffers to former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, and Barron is a member of the Des Moines City Council.

UNDERREPRESENTATION

Even though Latinos are now the nation's largest ethnic minority, they are significantly underrepresented in Congress and most state legislatures, according to demographic analysis by the Associated Press.

In Iowa, there are no Latinos elected to federal or statewide office, or in the Legislature. It's not much better for Latinos at the local level, where there are only 15 Latino elected officials, according to Barron's and Padilla's research.

Of those, 14 are city council and school board members — the only Latino elected county official in the state is Scott Co. Recorder Rita Vargas, according to Barron and Padilla.

That is in contrast with Iowa's black population and representation in the Iowa Legislature. Both are just more than 3 percent.

The problem with underrepresentation, Latino public leaders in Iowa say, is a government that is not reflective of its entire population cannot best serve all of its people.

'No one can represent or really understand the issues of a particular community better than someone who belongs to that group,' said Padilla, who works with Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity.

'That is not to discredit many of the good public officials we have in the state who have been trying to do that job, and in many cases are doing a very good job advocating for women, Latinos, African-Americans, and other minorities. …

But I truly believe a community is best represented by someone with a shared background.'

Even in pockets across the state where Latinos comprise a higher percentage of the population, Latino elected officials are rare.

Latinos in recent years became a majority population in Webster City, in Hamilton County in central Iowa. Yet the city has just one Latino elected official, council member Jose Zacarias.

Sioux City has one of the highest percentages of Latino residents in the state — 21.2 percent in the state Senate district that encompasses the city. Yet has just one Latino elected official: school board member Perla Alarcon-Flory, who is running for the state legislature in this fall's election.

'High concentrations of our voters are usually within very strong Democratic districts, and the Democrats have always relied on the Latino vote to help their white candidates get elected or re-elected. That needs to change. We need to be an independent vote,' Henry said.

'Clearly we have the concentrations to elect our own people into the state legislature, and we need to do that to make sure legislation is out there …

to fight on the issues of jobs, health care, education, and driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.'

Elected and political party officials often say it can be difficult to recruit people to run for elected office, particularly at the state level, due largely to the time commitment. The Iowa Legislature typically meets every Monday through Thursday from mid-January to roughly April or May at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines.

'LACK OF TRUST'

That challenge sometimes is magnified for minority residents, including Latinos who may be disenfranchised by government because of experiences in their home countries.

'When you come from other countries where the political institutions and the electoral system are completely rigged, there is a lack of trust,' Alarcon-Flory said. 'So we need to change the mind-set. That's the first thing.'

It also can be difficult to motivate Latinos to run for elected office when so few have done so successfully to this point, Alarcon-Flory said.

'They don't find that reflection. It's a door that hasn't opened yet,' she said.

Padilla and Barron believe no Latino has ever been elected to the Iowa Legislature. Padilla said he believes if they can break that barrier, more will follow.

'If Latinos don't have anybody currently — and we have never had anybody in the Statehouse representing us — how can we expect other Latinos to want to do that, and be able to do that,' Padilla said.

The answer may come in the form of young Latinos in Iowa, which make up a growing share of the Latino population. Because of the preponderance of young Latinos, the community is expected to more than double to 13 percent of the state's population by 2050, according to projections from Woods and Pool Economics Inc.

Several Latino leaders said they see their community's younger generation not only more populous, but also more politically active.

'I have a 13-year-old grandson who all he wants to do is watch CNN and MSNBC. He wakes up, eats breakfast and watches that,' said Lena Avila Robison, founder and president of Latinos Unidos of Iowa.

'The youth are so energetic and so anxious to get involved in the political process. It's amazing to me, and I look forward to seeing a lot of our youth look toward representing the state of Iowa in some format.'

Joe Enriquez Henry's son is one of those younger Latinos already involved in public service. Zachary Bales Henry serves on the Windsor Heights city council.

'My son, and others in that millennial generation, are very confident. They just need a little bit of a nudge to move forward,' Joe Enriquez Henry said. 'I feel good about that, I really do, that they're going to, with our help from the elders within the community, that they're going to get the resources to run for those higher positions and they're going to win.'

Padilla said all his group seeks is 'fair representation' so Latinos have a voice in local and state government.

'We can't go from zero percent to six percent (to match the Latino population in the state) in one day, one year, even a decade. I know it's going to take time,' Padilla said. 'But if we at least had one person in strategic government bodies, that would do that, that would put a different voice in meetings where we currently have no voice.'

LATINO ELECTED OFFICIALS IN IOWA:

Rita Vargas, Scott County Recorder

Rob Barron, Des Moines School Board

Juanita Zavala, Ottumwa School Board

Jose Zacarias, West Liberty City Council

Karyn Finn, Hudson School Board

Rafael Jacobo, Cedar Rapids School Board

Heather Anderson, Des Moines School Board

Perla Alarcon-Flory, Sioux City School Board

Raul Martinez, Hospers City Council

Zachary Bales-Henry, Windsor Heights City Council

Luis Del Toro, Dubuque City Council

Jake Rios, Dubuque City Council

Santos Saucedo, Muscatine City Council

Kenia Alarcon, Perry School Board

Paul Castro, Bettendorf School Board

Source: Latino Political Network