02/20/02

A volunteer assembly line in Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz's campaign office pushes along a flurry of fund-raiser invitations as Cruz and volunteer Mariam Calderon laugh about how they first met.

Calderon jokes about feeling sheepish when, as a newcomer to Portland, she looked up Cruz in the phone book to ask about getting involved in the Latino community. And here she is, four years later, stuffing envelopes for Cruz's 2002 re-election bid.

"If she hadn't been Latina, I would have never called," said Calderon, who is co-chairwoman of GenAccion, a nonprofit young Latinos' networking group. "I had never called up an elected official before."

Like Calderon, many Latinos, have transformed a personal connection into first-time political activism this year. Community members say the state's 2002 ballots will have a record number of Latino candidates. Their presence is drawing fellow Latinos to volunteer across district lines and encouraging thousands of potential voters to register.

Oregon's Latino population has more than doubled in the past decade, according to census figures. Redistricting resulted in the state's first-ever 40 percent Latino house district, stretching from Woodburn to Salem.

Both the state's major parties now have Latino caucuses. The Oregon chapter of the National Republican Hispanic Assembly is being launched. The Oregon Democratic Party's Latino Caucus was established two years ago. Perry Atkinson, Oregon Republican Party chairman and Medford resident, said he's recently started recruiting Spanish-speaking interpreters to accompany him to certain speaking engagements.

Latinos in Oregon -- now at 8 percent of the state's population -- don't approach the clout they have in California, New York or Florida. But the group's burgeoning influence is expected to grow quickly.

"I think you're seeing the tip of the iceberg now," said Tim Hib bitts, a Portland-based political analyst. "Ask me again in five years. We'll know it when we see it: When you see more candidates taking the time to learn and speak Spanish, when you see them spend more time in the Hispanic community campaigning, when you see more Hispanic Americans run for office." Candidates appeal to all Oregon's most well-known Latino elected officials have won their jobs in districts with relatively small Latino populations.

Cruz represents North Portland and portions of Northeast Portland. Her colleague on the Multnomah County board, Commissioner Maria Rojo de Steffey, represents the westside and parts of Southeast Portland. State Sen. Susan Castillo, who is running for state schools superintendent, now represents Eugene. And Annabelle Jaramillo, chairwoman of the Oregon Democratic Party's Latino Caucus, is a Benton County commissioner.

That's not unusual for a state such as Oregon with a small Latino population, said Rodolfo de la Garza, a professor of political science at Columbia University who studies Latino voting patterns. The earliest Latino candidates in states such as California and Texas were elected not by sheer numbers of Latino voters, he said, but because of divisiveness among white candidates or because a bloc of white voters -- such as the Jewish community in Southern California -- rallied behind a Latino candidate.

Castillo said to win her state Senate district in Eugene -- which is less than 5 percent Latino -- she's had to appeal to a broad range of voters. She sees her campaign for the statewide schools job in much the same way.

"It's not so much I am the Latino candidate, it's about being a good leader for children," Castillo said. "But I am Latina, and if that gets more Latino voters involved in this election cycle, terrific."

Salem resident Billy Dalto, the first Republican Latino state House candidate, recognizes he has set an important precedent for Oregon, where nearly all high-profile Latino elected officials have been Democrats.

The strong support for President Bush among Latinos nationwide shows that Republican platforms mesh well with the community's strong ties to family, education and Catholicism, Dalto said. He's the chairman of the new state chapter of the National Republican Hispanic Assembly.

Dalto is running for his mentor Jackie Winters' state House seat, covering portions of south and east Salem.

Like Winters, who is African American, Dalto knows he is a pioneer. "But I don't really like that word," he said. "I didn't decide to run because I wanted to make history. I decided to run because I knew I could do a good job." Crossing district lines Regardless of their own districts' demographics, Oregon's Latino candidates have been able to draw support across voting boundaries from fellow Latinos.

Many Latinos agree that the local race to watch this year is Anthony Veliz's run for the new largely Latino House district in the Woodburn area.

Calderon, GenAccion co-chairwoman, said the 34-year-old Veliz recently spoke to the group, and many members, mostly Portland residents, have pledged to volunteer and donate to his campaign.

"My race is huge for the Latino community," Veliz said. "People tell me, 'This is it. The so-called Latino district. It's put-up-or-shut-up-type times for the community.'

"It's a blessing and a burden."

Veliz, Cruz and Castillo communicate frequently to share strategies.

Mary Lou Cornejo, a first-time candidate for Marion County commissioner, said she sought out Rojo de Steffey.

"I felt I needed to talk to a woman who's been there. And a Latina as well," said Cornejo, a Salem resident. "There's a different track. We don't have as many role models. I wanted to ask her, 'How did you do it? What do I need to think about?' "

Back at Cruz's headquarters, the racially mixed group of volunteers stuffing envelopes includes both the 34-year-old candidates' role models as well as younger Latinos who Cruz hopes will run for office in the future.

Her father and most faithful volunteer, Roberto, looks around the room and says things have changed a great deal since he, the son of migrant workers, was young.

"Back then, politics wasn't a really big thing. Survival was," Roberto Cruz says. "It took someone like Serena to say, 'I can do it. Si, se puede.' I was totally surprised."

Angie Chuang can be reached by phone at 503-221-8219 and by e-mail at angiechuang@news.oregonian.com.

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