Latino candidates benefitting from a surge in political contributions

By Nicole Abrams

Seven years ago, when Alexandra St. Guillen, a Venezuelan-American activist, ran for an at-large seat on the City Council, she netted $17,850 in her first month — most of it from white donors. Little more than a quarter of her donors had Latino surnames.

Seven years later another first-time candidate — Dominican-American Alexandra Valdez — is aiming for an at-large seat on the Council. In her first month of fundraising two-thirds of her donors had Latino surnames. Those individuals provided 75% of the $12,480 she raised.

The difference in Latino support in the two campaigns underscores what political activists say is a sea change in the Latino community.

“I think Latinos are starting to realize the power that we have in Boston and the potential of it,” said political consultant Doug Chavez, “and then non-Latino candidates are starting to realize, ‘Hey, we can't ignore this community.’”

Valdez said that this year’s election is a great time for the Latino community to support candidates that they resonate with.

“I think this is a really unique time in an election that we’re seeing in Boston,” said Valdez, “for our community to really stand strong and supporting one another, but most of all to really be uplifting and collaborating together to showcase the power that our communities hold overall.”

Eldin L. Villafañe, a public relations consultant, said he believes that the increase in Latino political participation in Boston can be attributed in part to the increase in the Latino population in the city. 

According to a study done by UMass Boston on the increase in the Latino population in Boston, between 2015 and 2019, the Latino population grew by 35%. The most recent Census data shows that about 19% of the population in Boston is Latino.

But Villafañe also emphasized that the national election showed how much the Latino vote matters for both Republicans and Democrats. 

“It is a clear sign of our direct involvement in campaigns that go beyond just voting, but also with our dollars,” said Villafañe.

District 4 City Councilor Enrique Pepén said that Latino voters want to vote for people who share their values and what they advocate for.

“Honestly, that’s why you donate, because you want to make sure that the person that you want to win is representative of what you stand for,” said Pepén.

Good for business

Looking at the first month of fundraising for Valdez and St. Guillen, eight donors for Valdez’s campaign were Latino business owners while only one Latino business owner contributed to St. Guillen’s campaign.

Chavez said that an increasing number of Latinos, especially in the Dominican community, have become business owners and entrepreneurs in Boston. 

According to Chavez, the process to launch a business is difficult. Entrepreneurs often turn to help from elected officials on the City Council.

“If you want a certain kind of license, a liquor license, or any kind of license, you need to understand who the political leaders are,” said Chavez.

Chavez said that these business owners want to elect people who look like them and will help them obtain these important licenses.

Pepén also said that Latino business owners will support candidates who understand their struggle.

“I think for them, it’s like, ‘Oh, finally, there’s people that are going to speak our language, understand our story, how we got here, what we went through,’” said Pepén.

Attracting funding and votes hasn’t always been easy for Latino candidates in Boston. It wasn’t until 2003 that Felix D. Arroyo became the first Latino was elected to the Council. Now the 13-member body has three Dominican American members — Pepén, whose district includes Hyde Park and parts of Roslindale, and at-large councilors Julia Mejia and Henry Santana.

“We are not where we were 20 years ago,” noted Tony Barros, a former political consultant who worked for former mayor Thomas Menino. “We did not have the number of Latinos, not only able to run but also able to provide funds.”

As a result of that, Barros said that a larger focus was put on organizing the Latino community to get involved in activism.

“Then after that, we started to get more organized and financially well-established to be able to contribute more,” he said. “So, that’s what we're seeing right now.”

Barros also said that technology today has changed the way that grassroots work is done and that “it’s more oriented to a larger spectrum of potential donors.”

Pepén said that with three Latinos in City Council and multiple Latinos running for office, there is an increase in representation that is affecting Latino voter turnout. 

“I feel like there’s finally an actual movement towards organizing our community to be civically engaged, to have a voice in what is local government, to mobilize our people to go out and vote and to obviously donate to the elected officials,” said Pepén.

Pepén said that Latinos are showing people that they are involved in the political process.

“For many years, our voice was muted,” he said, “and I think that finally, we’re in a way that we’re able to organize and mobilize our people to say, ‘You can vote. You have a voice at the table. The city of Boston is also yours.’”