HISTORY MAKERS: Latino Victory Fund-Endorsed Candidates Election Roundup

Latino Victory
Nov 7 · 6 min read

On what some dubbed “off-year” elections, Latino Victory Fund’s endorsed candidates had huge wins in Virginia and Arizona. Our candidates in Virginia were re-elected in seats that needed to be protected to lock down the Democratic majority in the House of Delegates. The Virginia Senate was also flipped, yielding the first Democratic legislative trifecta since 1993. In Arizona, our endorsed candidate Regina Romero made history by becoming the first woman and the first Latina to be Mayor of Tucson, as well as the only Latina Mayor in one of the largest 50 U.S. cities. Our candidates’ 2019 victories, coupled with wins in places like Kentucky, outline a path to victory for Democrats in 2020 based on quality candidates stepping up, running, and focusing on bread and butter issues.

Two years ago, history was made in Virginia when the oldest governing body in our country elected not ONE, but TWO Latinas to the state legislature. Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzman were elected despite racist and bigoted attacks against them, and their victories brought the Virginia House of Delegates closer to flipping blue. After their re-election, one thing remains clear: Latinos and Latinas continue running in ground-breaking races and mobilizing Latinos across the country.

Latino Victory Fund endorsed candidates in Virginia and Arizona, one a state with a rising Latino electorate and the other, a key battleground state in the 2020 election with a sizable Latino population.

Latino Victory believes that when Latinos are on the ballot, Latinos turn out to vote. We saw this in Virginia in 2017, where Latino turnout was at an all-time high for an off-year election, but more significant is that Latino turnout was higher than the state’s average in Delegates Hala Ayala and Elizabeth Guzman’s districts. This surge in turnout helped Democrats in Virginia flip the House and Senate.

Just like they did in 2017, Latino candidates and Latino voters played a key role in flipping Virginia blue and electing Democrats across the state.

We know that the road to the White House will run through the Latino vote. With a year to go before the 2020 election, Latino candidates like those in Virginia and Arizona will play a key role in mobilizing Latinos to vote. The success of these candidates in 2019 will be a harbinger of what’s to come for Latinos in 2020.


OUR 2019 WINNERS

Regina Romero — Mayor-Elect of Tucson, Arizona

Regina Romero — Mayor-Elect of Tucson, Arizona

In August, Regina Romero won the Democratic primary and made history yesterday by becoming the first woman and first Latina elected to the position. In a city where the Latino population is 41 percent, Romero’s victory marks a milestone.

And while her primary win all but guaranteed her election as mayor, Romero did not take anything for granted. She could have easily kicked back and coasted to victory, instead, Romero spent the following months working relentlessly to mobilize Latinos in Tucson to ensure her fellow down-ballot Democrats were also victorious. As a result of her work, two new Tucson City Council members, Lane Santa Cruz and Nikki Lee, were elected! This movement will help create the infrastructure required to turn out Latino voters in 2020 to flip another U.S. Senate seat and help Democrats get one state closer to winning the White House.

Arizona has been ground-zero for anti-immigrant and anti-Latino policies. Having one of its major cities elect a Latina for the first time in history will be a ground-breaking milestone for the community and a testament to the growing Latino political power as we head into the 2020 election.

More on Regina’s historic victory:

READ LATINO VICTORY’S FULL STATEMENT ON REGINA ROMERO’S HISTORIC VICTORY


Delegate Elizabeth Guzman — Virginia House of Delegates District 31

Delegate Elizabeth Guzman — Virginia House of Delegates District 31

Elizabeth Guzman made history in 2017 with the support of Latino Victory Fund, when she became one of the two first Latinas elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.

Since then, she has become a national figure — she delivered the Spanish response to the State of the Union in 2018 and has been instrumental in building a pipeline of Latino candidates in Virginia.

Guzman is the Division Chief of Administrative Services for the Center for Adult Services or the City of Alexandria and has spent the last ten years working in the public sector. Originally from Perú, Guzman also became the first minority delegate to represent Prince William County. She is a longtime resident of Prince William County, during which time she has led grassroots organizing for the Democratic Party and Hispanic community.

More on Delegate Guzman’s reelection:

READ LATINO VICTORY’S STATEMENT ON DELEGATE GUZMAN’S REELECTION


Minority Whip Alfonso Lopez — Virginia House of Delegates District 49

Minority Whip Alfonso Lopez — Virginia House of Delegates District 49

Alfonso Lopez was one of the first Democratic Latinos elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Lopez was elected to represent District 49 in 2011 and has risen to the ranks of Whip of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus. As the son of a Venezuelan father and mother devoted to educating immigrant children, Lopez is committed to advancing the rights of the immigrant community in Virginia.

Prior to his election to the Virginia House of Delegates, Lopez was a political appointee under President Obama working as the Assistant Administrator for Congressional and Legislative Affairs of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Lopez also served as Governor Tim Kaine’s Director of the Virginia Liaison Office in D.C., where he represented the governor at the Democratic Governors Association, National Governors Association, and the Southern Governors Association.

More on Minority Whip Lopez’s reelection:

READ LATINO VICTORY’S STATEMENT ON MINORITY WHIP LOPEZ’S RE-ELECTION


Delegate Hala Ayala — Virginia House of Delegates District 51

Delegate Hala Ayala — Virginia House of Delegates District 51

Hala Ayala formed part of Latino Victory’s Virginia Slate in 2017, and with our support, she made history as one of the first Latinas elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Ayala is the daughter of an El Salvadorian father and a Middle Eastern mother and has called Prince William County home for over 35 years.

Hala has experienced the challenges of single motherhood and lack of access to affordable health insurance. She understands the concerns of working families today. She has fought for raising the minimum wage, equal pay and access to affordable health care as the founder and former president of the Prince William County chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Hala worked her way up from a service job without health insurance to become a cybersecurity specialist with the Department of Homeland Security. For over 17 years, she worked to protect our nation’s information systems, enforce security measures, and prevent cyber-terrorist attacks against the United States.

More on Delegate Ayala’s re-election:

READ LATINO VICTORY’S STATEMENT ON DELEGATE AYALA’S RE-ELECTION

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade