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Women, Latinos gaining strength in Democratic Party here

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Illinois

* These numbers come to us courtesy of Emily’s List. It’s the Super Tuesday breakouts by gender…

* According to the Illinois exit polling, white men were 23 percent of the Democratic electorate, while white women made up 34 percent. The gender gap went across all races. Black men were 9 percent of the total Democratic vote while black women were 15 percent. Latino men were 8 percent and Latinas were 9 percent.

* There is one other important demographic to consider. Latinos made up 17 percent of the Democratic vote, while blacks were 24 percent. So they’re gaining fast. Congressman Luis Gutierrez got about 61,000 votes yesterday, which was far higher than the 37,382 votes he got in the last presidential primary. Some of the state legislative contests in Hispanic districts also saw a near doubling of the vote from four years ago.

Black voting was up as well, but not nearly as much as the Latinos. About 143,000 votes were cast in Congressman Bobby Rush’s primary, for instance, up from about 102,000 in 2004, when he was unopposed.

* And then there was the Cook County State’s Attorney race, where Anita Alvarez fit the growth demographics perfectly. She’s a woman and is also Hispanic. From the Sun-Times…

Alvarez appeared to have won with support from soccer moms and Latinos and in wards run by old-style bosses. She won the city vote with 25 percent to Allen’s 24 percent. Of the 50 wards, she won 15 — including those run by Cook County Commissioner John Daley, Ald. Ed Burke (14th), House Speaker Michael Madigan and Ald. Dick Mell (33rd). She also won nine suburban townships, while Allen won 12.

Those so-called “Machine” wards are heavily Latino, and the boys are losing control. Mell went all out for Rep. Rich Bradley against Sen. Ira Martinez, but Martinez won big.

* I would add that Joe Berrios’ big win for Board of Review was certainly helped by the strong Latino vote. They have become a force to be reckoned with.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 12:30 pm

Comments

Another interesting stat from yesterday is the fact that there were more Democrat than Republican ballots cast in DuPage County - nearly 24,000 more. Pate and Lee must be beside themselves!

Comment by GA Watcher Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 12:47 pm
It is, indeed, a great sign that folks like Anita Alvarez won, but a bad sign that entrenched, uneducated louts like Eddie Acevedo are still in office. I hope that the Hispanic electorate continues to turn out in greater numbers, but that they also make informed choices on their choice of candidates.

Comment by Educator Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 12:50 pm
Alvarez won big in both the 13th and 14th wards. She also won 11.

Comment by Prairie Sage Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 12:52 pm
Duh, read the post, PS. And the ST. That’s what happens when you do your own research.

Comment by Prairie Sage Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 12:53 pm
I wonder how these demographic/political trends will factor in redistricting in 2010…could be fascinating…Latinos need to start organizing
now…

Comment by Anonymous45 Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 1:02 pm
Anita Alvarez had the advantage of being the lone woman in a field of six that included five men. Some observers pointed out to her likelihood of success if the vote was split. Illinois has no run off provisions, so pluralities are enough to carry the day. This is a lesson that students of politics have learned repeatedly: William Hale Thompson, Harold Washington, Carol Moseley Braun, Barack Obama all benefitted from plurality wins.
How would any of these candidates fared in a straight forward, one on one? Not too well. Many states have run-off provisions if no candidate receives a majority. Could Alvarez have beaten Allen in a one on one? Probably not. Latino voting strength has been overrated.

As for Berrios trouncing Jay Paul Derantany, opposition to the challenger’s openly gay lifestyle may have been a partial factor in his defeat. Berrios stopped short of using all of the controversial opposition research at his disposal, but there was definitely a whispering campaign going on.

Comment by Honest Abe Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 1:04 pm
“…Barack Obama all benefitted from plurality wins”

Obama got over 52% of the vote in his 2004 Senate primary race.

Comment by Tweed Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 1:10 pm
That was not the only election contest that Mr. O. made during the course of his political career.

By the way, that was not a one on one race either.

Comment by Honest Abe Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 1:22 pm
Women and Latino’s turnout out to vote in larger number in the city most definitely helped Martinez and Alvarez. Maybe it also means that the power of HDO is finally being drained by the indictments.

Comment by Tin Foil Hat Crowd Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 1:35 pm
Apparently Tin Foil Hat Crowd is unaware of how Martinez got her start in Illinois politics.

Comment by Oh, please.... Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 1:40 pm
===Mell went all out for Rep. Rich Bradley against Sen. Ira Martinez====
Maybe, maybe not!

Comment by Bill Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 1:44 pm
oh, please … who do you think ran the Bradley and Carlos campaigns and did their mail? Victor and the boys came gunning for her with the help from their lapdog Sandoval and they came up way short. Good for Iris.

Comment by Tin Foil Hat Crowd Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 1:59 pm
Knowing that Richard Bradley is himself Latino and still lost to an opponent who said he was the “Anglo candidate”, how soon is the day when candidates change their surnames to sound more hispanic in order to get votes, like they used to go Irish at election time?

Comment by nortsider Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 2:01 pm
And so the beginning of the end for HDO. Question is how will hispanic groups and non HDO political organizations work together to finally nail the coffin on the scandal ridden HDO.

Comment by Thomas Aquinas Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 2:13 pm
Another big win for Latinos was that Frank Avila was the number on vote-getter for Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and Cynthia Santos came in third.

This despite the fact that self-proclaimed “environmentalists” and “reformers” Maragos and Spyropolous likely spent the most money out of all the candidates. Spyropolous looks like she came in fourth, but Maragos, for the second time, despite spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, did abysmal.

Comment by Just Observing Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 2:19 pm
I’m shocked Maragos didn’t win - he was throwing money at everyone and everything. Voters must just not like his name. Spyropolous did well - probably because she’s a woman, she got a lot of good endorsements and she comes off as somewhat genuine. She should run again. The Avila win was impressive – a lot of people weren’t even sure he’d win, let alone come in number 1. Alvarez, Berrios and Avila were huge wins last night for Latinos.

Comment by Dolores Del Rio Finnegan Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 2:40 pm
Honest Abe: I am no fan of Berrios. I did not hear any whispering campaign about Deratany’s sexuality and I would wig out at such a horrible thing. I did intend on voting for Deratany
but, as with many other races, talked it
over with friends because I knew nothing of him. some in the legal and financial community who are not at all connected to Berrios (I checked) told
me that Deratany is: dumb, mean, difficult to deal with, did not pay a big bill. Berrios is powerful for sure, but if someone is personally difficult and has a financial issue, that is a killer. The people I talked with do not work
together, work in different areas of the law
and finance, but each had an unforgettable story
about what a jerk he is.

Comment by amy Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 3:01 pm
“VM, the game is played by the rules on the ground, not the rules in your particular head.”

Uh huh - looks like I spun this one correctly too!

ME - 2
YOU - 0

This happens so rarely I feel giddy!

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 3:08 pm
Amy:

Your references did not mislead you. Their advice was solid.

Deratany has been criticized for filing frivolous lawsuits and engaging in tactics that cause other lawyers to wince.

Berrios reportedly had some of this information, but thought that it would be problematic to disseminate and might have backfired upon his own candidacy. As Democratic County Chairman, Berrios did not want to be perceived as homophobic.

I cannot believe that Houlihan and Schakowsky chose to back Deratany and waste so much money on his campaign. A better candidate with so many flaws would have ousted Berrios.

Comment by Honest Abe Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 3:47 pm
Oops… should read “without so many flaws”

Comment by Honest Abe Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 3:48 pm
A goof is a goof regardless of orientation.

Hooli’s help was another big negative. He can whine big building breaks, but homeowners know it is his bunglers who are dropping the ball most often.
Give the voters some credit

Comment by Annonerama Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 4:53 pm
Houlihan will never get elected again. As a hispanic I can not believe he would go against a leader in the Hispanic Community. By the way…ever go into the Assessor’s Office Downtown…The customer service is atrocious. This guy is beyond incompetent.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 5:23 pm
Women have a more intimate understanding of how elected officials impact their day-to-day lives BEYOND the question of income and corporate taxes. The government pries into their bodies through the family planning issues, into their homes through the insurance and welfare issues with sick or hungry children, into their children’s lives through school funding and making wars. They’ve awakened to this fact an you can expect more of this in the future.

Comment by NoGiftsPlease Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 6:29 pm
Are we SURE that Alvarez really beat “the big boys”? I don’t know whom, if anyone, they endorsed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of them actually had a couple different palm cards, one for Latino precincts featuring Alvarez and another in white precincts featuring Tom Allen.

If there truly had been a revolt of Latino voters in the Machine Wards you’d expect that Cynthia Santos would have swamped the non-Hispanic slated candidates (Meany, Maragos) in those wards. But Santos lost handily in 11, 13 and 47. She barely beat Maragos in 14. And she won 33 quite easily, but that’s her home ward.

I’m not denying the growing impact of Latino voters. I just think this requires more complex analysis.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 9:04 pm
Take a look at the Latino precinct totals in the Lipinski - Pera race where the immigrant rights crowd worked against the Lip! They beat the Lip in the 15th and 16th Wards, and fought to a draw in three Madigan precincts!

If the Lip does not “evolve” on his immigration stands and he ever gets a decent challenger… Watch Out!!!

Comment by "Change" in 3rd CD Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 9:06 pm
Even in Illinois, Hispanics voted for Hillary against Obama. Luis Gutierrez’ 4th Congressional District went for Hillary even though he endorsed Obama. No coat-tails! 22nd Ward went heavily in favor of Hillary, even though self-proclaimed independent Alderman Ricardo Muñoz endorsed Obama. Is there a message here for the Independents and for the old Harold Washington Coalition folks?

Comment by El Politico Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 10:23 pm
El Politico, Obama won the 3rd District.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Feb 6, 08 @ 11:09 pm