California's black and Latino voters, who turned out in droves for Barack Obama, provided key support for a state ban on same-sex marriage. Christian, married and older voters also helped give the measure the winning edge, according to exit polls for The Associated Press.
Proposition 8 overturns a May California Supreme Court decision legalizing gay nuptials and rewrites the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Exit poll data showed seven in 10 black voters and more than half of Latino voters backed the ballot initiative, while whites and Asians were split. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Some people have misconceptions of Latinos' level of civic commitment, according to a new Brown report.
A team of researchers, including some Brown faculty members, recently released a report that presents counter-arguments to commonly held myths about the opinions and attitudes of the Latino community.
Under the leadership of Evelyn Hu-Dehart, director of Brown's Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, the project, entitled "Myths vs. Reality: Results From the New England Latino Survey," was an extension of the Latino National Survey. Conducted in 2005 and 2006 by a group of Latino political scientists, the survey, according to a University statement, was "a study of political and social attitudes of more than 8,600 Latino residents in the United States." For the New England-focused report released Oct. 30, the Latino communities in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts were surveyed. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Barack Obama drew on support from Hispanics, young voters and women to score victories in New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado — three Western states that voted for President Bush in 2004.
Obama also contributed to an Election Day sweep in New Mexico that put the state's entire congressional delegation in Democratic hands for the first time in 40 years. READ FULL STORYRead more…
About two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Barack Obama, decisively surpassing the 53 percent who voted for Democrat John Kerry in 2004, exit polls showed.
Democrat Barack Obama gained lopsided support from Hispanics in Tuesday's election, winning solidly among voters with whom President Bush had made inroads in 2004.
About two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Obama, decisively surpassing the 53 percent who voted for Democrat John Kerry in 2004, exit polls showed. That year Bush enjoyed a high-water mark of GOP support from Hispanics with 44 percent of the vote from the nation's fastest growing ethnic group. READ FULL STORYRead more…
In the final stretch to the U.S. presidential election, more than three quarters of likely Hispanic voters say they support Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain, a study found.
The Univision/Reuters/Zogby poll released on Tuesday said that 78 percent of a sample of 1,016 Latino likely voters favored Sen. Obama, with 13 percent supporting McCain, an Arizona senator. READ FULL STORYRead more…
In 1963, at age 20, Lillian Aida Martinez came to the United States from Chile.
"Even though this country gave her a lot of opportunities, she still experienced setbacks," said Martinez's 37-year-old daughter, Linda Kelly.
Maybe it was because she didn't know anyone in the States or because she was a woman. It could have been her broken English and thick Chilean accent. No matter the reason, Martinez was met with challenges she never wanted her daughter, Linda, to face. That's why Martinez always made sure to encourage her daughter to learn perfect English and pursue a good education — while holding on to her Latin-American roots. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Despite the considerable and growing numbers of Hispanics living in the United States, little is known about their alcohol-beverage preferences. A new study of U.S. Hispanics belonging to four national groups – Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban American, and South/Central American – has found that beer is their beverage of choice. READ FULL STORYRead more…
The homecoming football game had just ended, and students clad in orange T-shirts were swarming the quad in search of post-tailgating festivities, but the nearly 1,700 African-American students packed in a nearby auditorium at the Downstate campus barely noticed. READ FULL STORYRead more…
When Nilza Mirabal goes to cast her presidential ballot Nov.4, she plans to vote for Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain.
And she has lots of company. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Millions of Latinos are getting emails and hearing radio ads inviting them to watch a graphic blockbuster video featuring famous Latino film star, producer and singer, Eduardo Verastegui. The online video explains the crisis of abortion in America—particularly in the Latino community--while revealing Barack Obama's pro-abortion track record and agenda. READ FULL STORYRead more…
The phone calls into the electric blue-walled room come from El Salvador, Sudbury and the bar around the corner. They are all Latinos calling and they are all scared. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Jorge Ramos, Univision's news anchor, claims he has conducted more one-on-one interviews with the 2008 presidential candidates than any other anchor in the mainstream media. So far, he has interviewed Barack Obama twice and John McCain three times. Four years ago, he only got a couple minutes - once - with Democratic hopeful John Kerry.
Earlier this month, Ramos flew to Waukesha, Wis., to interview McCain, who gave him 10 minutes. But when his time was up, McCain agreed to 10 minutes more.
"No candidate can enter the White House without passing through Univision and other Spanish-language media. They know it," said Ramos. READ FULL STORYRead more…
New numbers released by The Pew Hispanic Center this morning show that more Hispanics in Florida this year are registered as Democrats (513,252) than as Republicans (445,526).
As recently as 2006, the center said, the reverse was true. Among registered Hispanic voters in Florida, more were Republican (414,185) than Democratic (369,906). READ FULL STORYRead more…
As Ana Perez knocks on door after door in Sunrise, she finds proof of Florida's increasingly diverse Hispanic landscape.
The Dominican-born woman switches to Spanish as she talks to people from Colombia, Puerto Rico and Uruguay, asking them all the same question: Are you voting for Barack Obama or John McCain? Perez, 39, a Democrat who voted for George W. Bush and now canvasses for Obama, sees a lesson in the diversity she encounters. "[Hispanics] are really just like any other Americans." READ FULL STORYRead more…
With less than a week until the election, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has a significant lead in the swing state of Nevada, the latest poll from the Suffolk University polling institute revealed.
Obama leads Republican rival John McCain by 10 percentage points, with 50 percent support to McCain's 40 percent. Nevada tends to vote Republican, and Obama's widening lead there adds to McCain's uphill climb. READ FULL STORYRead more…
"Joe the Plumber" may be paying off for John McCain.
The Arizona senator scored sharp gains on the pivotal issue of jobs and the economy in the past week, helping him gain a bit on front-runner Barack Obama and narrow the presidential race as it heads into the final week, according to an Ipsos/McClatchy Poll released Tuesday.
The poll found Obama's margin over McCain on who's stronger on jobs and the economy — by far the top issue in the country — down from 16 points to 7 points in one week.
The Illinois senator's loss of ground on that benchmark question came as McCain hammered him repeatedly as someone who'd give taxpayers' money to the poor and pay for it by raising taxes on small businesses, much like the plumbing business in Ohio that "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher said he wanted to buy someday. READ FULL STORYRead more…
The number of new mortgages to blacks and Hispanics fell sharply in New York City in 2007, while staying flat for white borrowers and — surprisingly — rising for Asian-Americans, according to an analysis of federal mortgage data released on Monday by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Executives at Sam's Club, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s warehouse club division, told investors Tuesday that the company plans to open a new Mas Club store that sells products imported from Mexico to cater to Hispanic customers.
"Mas" means more in Spanish.
The news -- announced on the second day of Wal-Mart's annual investors meeting in Bentonville, Ark. -- come as Sam's Club is studying different store formats in a bid to expand its business amid a challenging environment. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Some nine million US Hispanics are eligible to vote in the November 4 presidential election and both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are pulling out all the stops to gain their support.
Both campaigns have tried to forge a closer relationship with the country's largest minority group, especially in the key swing states of Florida, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico -- places were the outcome could be determined.
Nationally, Latino support for the Republicans reached some 44 percent when President George W. Bush ran for re-election in 2004, when some 7.6 million Hispanics were eligible to vote. READ FULL STORYRead more…
When Ronnie and Sandra Sedillo-McGlothlin decided to hang out a shingle for their own commercial roofing company in 1982, they grew as their business empire grew.
They were young. He was 21; she was 20. They were broke – the couple sold their Corvette and a Trans Am to start Empire Roofing Ltd. out of their house – had a 2-year-old son and a baby on the way.
Together, they overcame the age hurdle with customers, as well as credit challenges, and built their specialized roofing enterprise into a $40-million international business and a multiple award-winning industry leader. READ FULL STORYRead more…
