Pasadena Latinos lacking political clout
Latinos are the largest minority group in Pasadena and comprise the majority of students enrolled in the Pasadena Unified School District. But Latinos have yet to achieve the political clout equal to their numbers because more than half of the community either cannot or will not register to vote. Latinos account for one-third of the city's total population and yet they represent only 16.4 percent of Pasadena's registered voters, according to figures used in the city's 2002 redistricting plan. Moreover, only 39 percent of Latinos old enough to register to vote have done so, the figures show. By comparison, African Americans make up about 14 percent of the city's population of 133,938 but account for 20.3 percent of the total registered voters. Thus, African Americans remain a more powerful voting bloc than Latinos, even though there are fewer than half as many African Americans living in Pasadena. Local Republicans have exploited this electoral gap and plan to exploit it again in an effort to keep liberal Latinos out of local office, according to Martin Truitt, GOP strategist and former Pasadena Republican Club president. [more]