House Democrats Diversifying Recruiting Class

By Josh Kraushaar  //  October 12, 2011 | 1:00 p.m.
Updated: October 12, 2011 | 1:30 p.m.

Former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez smiles beside his wife Adela as he announces his candidacy for Congress from California's 10th congressional district Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011, in Modesto, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)Image 3 of 20 (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

My column today looked at the challenges national Democrats are facing in landing a marquee Hispanic candidate for statewide office this election cycle. I argued that President Obama's effort to personally recruit former Bush Surgeon General Richard Carmona into the Arizona Senate race is a telltale sign of how important it is for Democrats to have a diverse crop of Senate candidates.

But House Democrats are having much more success on that front, landing a number of compelling Hispanic recruits - not just in gerrymandered seats drawn to elect Latinos but in swing districts that the party is looking to pick up in 2012.

The biggest potential star on the scene is astronaut Jose Hernandez, who just kicked off his campaign against freshman Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif. He's the son of migrant farm workers who has a made-for-TV story. He learned to speak English when he was 12, and later became a research engineer for NASA. In a Republican-leaning south Florida district, Democrats landed Luis Garcia, the first Cuban-American fire-chief of Miami, to run against scandal-plagued Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla. Former Albuquerque mayor Martin Chavez, a centrist Democrat, is running for the open seat being vacated by Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.

There are several other Hispanic Democratic recruits in the pipeline, preparing to run for battleground seats: State senator Michael Rubio is preparing to run for a newly-drawn seat in California's Central Valley - in a race that is shaping up to be a major barnburner. State Sen. Ruben Kihuen is looking to run in a new district in Nevada that will have sizable Hispanic representation.

Having a deep political farm team, filled with candidates who would be future senatorial and gubernatorial prospects, is very important for the national parties. Many of the 18 current Hispanic Democrats in Congress hail from safe districts, drawn to elect Latino elected officials. Most wouldn't be logical candidates to run for higher office, because they've catered primarily to narrow constituencies rather than to the broader electorate. As I wrote in a column last year, of the 75 black, Hispanic and Asian-American Democrats in Congress, only nine represent majority-white constituencies. A House Democratic campaign official said that the campaign committee is specifically focused on landing a diverse crop of recruits - including many whose background is not in politics. They are acutely aware of the anti-Washington mood, and aren't automatically turning to state legislative leaders. Republicans made inroads in diversifying their Congressional caucus in last year's midterms. They elected five Hispanic freshmen, and now have eight Hispanic Republicans in Congress. Given their successes in 2010, they have fewer races to challenge this time around, but also have recruited several Latino candidates, including former California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado (against Rep. Lois Capps) and state Assemblyman David Valadao, who could end up challenging Rubio.

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