By admin 
ISSUE | LATINO VOTING GROUP: A group looking to make inroads with Latino voters in the November election has ties to a conservative firebrand’s effort to counteract Democratic dominance across the state.
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The California Latino Voter Alliance, which is backed by Republican lawmakers, mailed guides to Californians in recent weeks pitching them in English and Spanish on how to cast their ballots for both local and state candidates. Its website lists a more complete voter guide for races across all of California’s 58 counties.
The alliance’s founder, Steven Esparza, said he wants to reach voters who have historically been overlooked.
“We’re not telling Latinos what they’re supposed to believe,” he said. “We’re encouraging them to get involved and vote for what they already believe in.”
But the group’s suggestions are for candidates and measures that are supported by more conservative voters, leading some Californians to call the guide deceptive.
Its recommendations include Republicans Steve Hilton for governor and Michael Gates for attorney general. Mailers specific to congressional districts have recommendations for longtime conservative stalwart Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, and Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, a congressman facing a tough reelection fight in the Central Valley.In the insurance commissioner race that features two Democrats, the alliance’s voter guide tells voters: “You’re Doomed.”
Who is behind the group?
Esparza, who leads a public relations firm in San Diego, said in an email that he started the voter guide “because Democrats’ policies hurt Latinos and Republican campaign operatives are too inept to understand how to reach Latinos.”
He said he grew up in San Ysidro, a section of southern San Diego next to the border with Mexico, and saw “firsthand how badly California has failed communities like the one I grew up in.”
The alliance has been active since 2023.
“That’s a big part of why I started this,” he said. “I’ve lived it, and I know we can do better.”
The voter guide is supported by Reform California, a conservative political group led by Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-Valley Center, a vocal and harsh critic of Democrats.
Reform California has spent more than $110,000 to produce the recommendations ahead of the November election, according to campaign finance records. Reform California said the guide is part of its efforts to “elevate conservative Latino candidates.” Republican congressional candidates, including McClintock, Valadao and U.S. Rep. James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, have also helped pay for the group’s guide.
DeMaio is also one of the key backers of Proposition 39, which would require voters to provide additional identifying information every time they cast a ballot. The alliance’s guide prominently encourages people to vote in favor of the measure in both English and Spanish.
In a 2023 Facebook post DeMaio encouraged Latinos “fed up with the Democrat Party” to attend a kickoff event for the alliance in Escondido, a city north of San Diego.
Esparza, who previously worked for DeMaio according to his LinkedIn profile,said the organization has received “an amazing response from Latino voters and candidates alike” and it was looking “to expand our reach so Latinos have a greater voice in government and can hold politicians accountable for the mess they’ve made of our state.”
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What are people saying about the guide?
Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego, was not aware of the group, but said using a voter guide ahead of an election is a common practice.
“The reason why grassroots groups can sometimes be effective is that they’ve been in communities representing people, they are backed by community leaders that people know and trust,” he said. “Their title alone is not what gives them any influence.”
Whether or not it will persuade voters is unclear. Esparza did not respond to an email Monday asking how many members are in the alliance. The group’s website does not list any staff members.
Over recent weeks, Californians have taken to social media to urge voters not to follow the voter guide.
In a video posted to Facebook earlier this month, Maria Wallace, a member of the Escondido Democrats, said: “This organization is a MAGA organization, Republican, and they are trying to trick our Latino community.”
Adding: “Pay attention, you shouldn’t vote for any of this,” while showing off the mailer.
Michael Galvez, a politically active pediatric surgeon based in the Central Valley, said there is no one guide that can speak for all of California’s Latino voters.
“DO NOT fall for this mailer coming for mail boxes!” Galvez said on Instagram. “Spread the word to your friends and family.”
Esparza pushed back against the claim that the group was being deceptive.
“There’s nothing misleading about Latinos organizing politically around values that don’t happen to align with the Democratic Party,” he wrote.
Mindy Romero, director of the nonpartisan Center for Inclusive Democracy at USC, said she could understand if some people are objecting to the use of “alliance” in the group’s name because it might give them the impression that it’s representing Latino voters as a whole. But she added that some Latinos may agree with the voter guide’s suggestions.
About 52% of California Latinos were registered Democrats and 18% were registered Republicans, .
“We have to be careful about making assumptions about what party or what issues or what efforts that Latinos from different right backgrounds or political persuasions would support,” Romero said.
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