The Arizona primaries are today. Many people like Martin Hernandez have already decided that they will stand with Clinton. He said he likes Clinton’s stance on many issues that are important to Latinos such as healthcare and immigration. As the organizing director for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 99, who have endorsed Clinton, he said that Clinton understands the needs of Latino workers.
“I want somebody in the presidency who is going to help workers, especially those in our immigrant community,” he said. “They are the ones who face the most abuse. Many of them are underpaid and their rights are violated by their employers.”
The Latino vote is once again in play for Democrats as Arizona and the days leading up to it Clinton and Bernie Sanders have competed over immigration issues. Clinton has sought to hold her lead here in the community and Sanders attempt to make inroads. On the Republican side, Donald Trump is seen as the likely winner of the state that has been an incubator for hardline, fear mongering, immigration enforcement tactics.
Senator Sanders has struggled in the state because of the lack of name recognition among Latinos, but has been competitive in the past with Clinton in states like Nevada, which also has a large Latino community. This does not change the fact that for many Latinos, Clinton is still the preferred candidate and she has proved that with major wins in Florida and Texas. According to Pew Research Center, Latinos are 22 percent of the state’s eligible voters.
Yesterday, Clinton spoke at a Phoenix high school where the majority of the students are Latinos. Former President Bill Clinton was also on the campaign trail with labor leader and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta earlier this week. While Sanders has held many rallies over the weekend and his wife, Jan Sanders, met with immigrant families and visited Tent City at which she called out Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on racial profiling.
On the Republican side it seems that it’s a two man race with Governor John Kasich not making a campaign stop in the state. While both Senator Ted Cruz and Donald Trump holding rallies in the state, whoever wins tonight’s primary in the Grand Canyon State will go home with all of its 58 delegates. While on the Democratic contest the state’s 85 delegates will be proportionally distributed.
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