Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Better organized Latinos try to shape Lamont administration

  • Politics
  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • November 20, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

ctmirror.org

Rep. Chris Soto outlines Latino effort to shape the Lamont administration.

One measure of the larger role Latinos are trying to play in Connecticut politics is the creation of a group announced Tuesday that will work with Gov.-elect Ned Lamont to ensure the representation of Latinos in the incoming administration.

Eight years ago, Latinos made no similar effort as Dannel P. Malloy was assembling the first new Democratic administration in 24 years. The first  appointment of a Latino as an agency head did not come until Malloy named Andres Ayala as commissioner of motor vehicles in December 2014, though he designated a health-care advisor, Jeannette DeJesús, as a cabinet-level appointee in his first year.

“You’re seeing the bench deepening with Latino leaders in our state,” said Rep. Chris Soto, D-New London.

The Connecticut Latino Gubernatorial Appointments Task Force is modeled after a similar effort organized in New Jersey last year by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, said Roberto Frugone, the group’s northeast regional director.

Latinos comprise 16 percent of the state’s 3.58 million residents, according to a 2017 estimate by the U.S. Census, and 7 percent of the Connecticut General Assembly. They are a young and growing population.

Nationally, 11 percent of the voters in the mid-term elections were Latino, according to exit polls. About one quarter of all Hispanic voters were casting votes in a mid-term election for the first time, and a majority of those under age 30 were first-time voters, according to the Pew Research Center.

A study by Secretary of the State Denise Merrill’s office in 2012 found 8 percent of registered voters in Connecticut were Latino, with 51.6 percent registered as Democrats, 39.4 percent unaffiliated and 8.2 percent Republican. By using Hispanic surnames, Merrill’s office identified 157,258 Hispanic voters, including more than 22,000 who registered in 2012. In 2018, the office estimated nearly 17,000 Latinos registered to vote.

Connecticut did not elect its first Hispanic members of the state Senate until 2012, when Ayala, a Democrat, was elected from Bridgeport and Art Linares, a Republican of Cuban descent, was elected from Westbrook. 

The Lamont transition team has Latino representation.

Elsa Nuñez, the president of Eastern Connecticut State University, is one of four leaders of the Lamont transition committee. Its members include Jorge Perez, the state banking commissioner, and Rep. Chris Rosario, D-Bridgeport, the leader of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.

“We know that three people on a committee or a task force do not represent all Latinos in the state,” Soto said.

The new task force announced Tuesday is a network of Latinos involved in politics, law, business, non-profits and labor. Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, a labor organizer who challenged Lamont’s choice of a running mate, Susan Bysiewicz, in a primary, is one of the participants.

Zimmerman said the inclusion of Latinos in the new administration would lead to an increase in voter turnout by Latinos, who traditionally trail other racial and ethnic groups. In 2014, an estimated 27 percent of eligible Hispanic voters cast a ballot, far below the 41 percent turnout rate among black voters and 46 percent rate of white voters.

“Give us a reason, and we’ll vote,” said Zimmerman, who is of Puerto Rican descent.

Marc Bradley, who was Lamont’s campaign manager, said Latinos were an important part of the coalition that elected Lamont.

“During the course of that campaign, I feel like we started a relationship and a friendship that’s going to carry on, not just though this transition period but forward in the administration and beyond,” Bradley said.

To submit a resume to the task force, email them at CTTaskforce@naleo.org.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut House joins national civil rights campaign over Black hair styles
by Mark Pazniokas

The Connecticut House voted for a bill intended to protect Black women from discrimination over their hair.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Connecticut GOP picks Susan Hatfield as state chair
by Mark Pazniokas

Susan Hatfield, vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, will complete the term of the former chair, J.R. Romano.

Senator alleges voter fraud, but no complaint was filed
by Mark Pazniokas

Rob Sampson said a voter in his district was told an absentee ballot already had been cast in her name.

Boston Fed chief predicts strong economic recovery begins in 2nd half of 2021 if vaccine reaches enough people
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A strong economic rebound also depends on states helping those hit hardest by COVID-19, a federal reserve official said.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The historical basis of zoning begs for reform
by Lawrence Rizzolo

Discussions of race are fraught with emotion. Witness the zoning reforms being discussed in our legislature. I will attempt to advance a dispassionate argument that is based on government-sponsored racism that occurred during my lifetime and led to the structural problems that persist today.

Opinion Lamont must stop waffling on the Killingly power plant issue
by Tennyson Benedict

On January 19, Gov. Ned Lamont gave his bluntest comments yet regarding the controversial Killingly natural gas plant, saying, “I don’t want to build Killingly.”  Yet, Lamont still refuses to wield his executive authority to actually stop its construction, and instead offers vague suggestions that market forces will stop the plant’s construction.

Opinion Religious freedom is less than righteousness
by Spencer Hill

The CT Viewpoints opinion “Religious freedom is more than religion” shows just how entrenched is the sincerely held belief that one man’s notion of “freedom” dictates the liberty of others.

Opinion To boost economy, state should invest in the ‘last mile’ of broadband connectivity
by Thomas J. Peters, Ph.D

In his budget address on February 10,   Gov. Ned Lamont announced his intent to expand broadband connectivity in Connecticut, an effort to be lauded. Connecticut enjoys a significant competitive advantage for economic development in the Connecticut Education Network (CEN), “ a 2,500 route mile, all optical, high-performance internet network.”

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO