Kaltura Video
A look at Latinx voters and voting
Speaker
Chuck RochaDate & time
Oct 15, 2024,
4:00-5:30 pm EDT
Location
The Latinx community in the United States is heterogeneous and omnipresent, representing every corner of the country and many political priorities. According to the Pew Research Center, from 2016 to 2024, the number of Latinos eligible to vote grew from 27 million to a projected 36 million. While Latino voters have favored Democratic candidates in presidential elections for many decades, the margin of support has varied. In 2020, 61% of Latino voters cast their ballot for Joe Biden, while 36% voted for Donald Trump, a narrower margin than in 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Trump.
The 2024 presidential election and many down ballot races will rely heavily on this important voting population.
This event is co-sponsored by the Latina/o Studies Program.
About the speaker
Chuck Rocha began his political career in the woods of East Texas at United Rubber Workers Local 746. By 22, he had become the youngest officer of the 1,200 person local. At 29, he was hired to be the youngest, first person of color and last rank-and-file National Political Director of the United Steelworkers of America. He is credited with building out one of the top national labor political departments in the country.
In 2010, Chuck left the USW to create Solidarity Strategies. The firm was built on the idea of diversity, inclusion and mentorship opportunities for the next generation of minority professionals. In 10 years, Solidarity has employed over 100 young people of color and has become one of the most successful minority-owned political consulting firms in the nation.
Chuck has worked on several presidential, Congressional and gubernatorial races through the years, including both of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns. He is the first Latino to run a presidential campaign and accomplished all of this despite never attending college, having a criminal record and being a single father at 20 years old.
