UNIDOS US OR JODIDOS TODOS?
José Angel Gutiérrez
joseangelgutierrezbooks.com
voiceofthemainland.blogspot.com/voces-index
UNIDOS US Poll of May 21st of 3,000 Registered Latino Respondents over 32 Competitive Congressional Districts have interesting points. First of all, the 3,000 registered Latino respondents are not well cross-represented. Latino and Hispanic are interchangeable terms. This is a basic foundational problem of all polls. In 2026, Latinos are 68 some million in the US population and of these PEW Hispanic estimates that some 57% are of Mexican origin; 40 million. Second, in 2024, Pew estimates that 25% of all Hispanic voters went for Trump. Yet, of the 3,000 registered Latino respondents they polled in 2026, we are not told how many are of Mexican origin and registered to vote. We do know the UNIDOS US Poll hired BSP Research and Shaw & Company Research to conduct this poll. For each state, they give the number of respondents by political affiliation. For example, in Texas they polled 50 Latiino Republicans, 65 Democrats and 58 Independents; California was 50 Republicans, 252 Democrats, and 158 Independents; and, Florida 178 Republicans, 172 Democrats and 158 Independents. How they came up with this total allocation and then break down the numbers into partisan affiliation is not explained.
In 2020, various sources using the pan ethnic designations of Latino and Hispanic claimed there were 30.6 million eligible voters among the group. Only 16.5% voted or 5.049 million. A whopping 74.% did not vote or 2,043,000 did not vote. However, in 2024, these same other various sources reported a larger pan ethnic population of 4 million eligible voters and 32% of these voted Republican for Trump. That is 1.28 million Hispanic Trumpers. Estamos Jodidos, No Unidos.
There is the soldier vote we have never gone after in any systematic organized way. Soldiers in active service can register and can vote anywhere they want. Got that? Anywhere they want. All that is necessary is for the soldier to ask her or his Commanding Officer to register them to vote in ____ county in____ state. From then on, once registered for that year, all ballots for all races held in that county will be mailed to that soldier. They do have to vote and send it back quick. Our families have thousands upon thousands of soldiers in service right now. But nobody tries to contact them asking they register and vote for the candidates of our choice. If a city, school district, community college, county, even state and federal legislative seats are holding elections, those can be had with help from the soldier vote. This is especially true in rural counties across the country. In California, the counties in the middle of the state north to south are all voting Republican, yet the minority majority in each of these counties are Latinos. Add the soldier vote, and you have total victory if locals and soldiers vote a united slate. Same is true and more so in Texas. In that state, 130 counties of the 254 have minority majority Latino populations, most of them eligible to register and vote, but do not. In some of these the presence of a Border Patrol station comprised of Latino agents, add to the problem because they will vote their pocketbook which is hefty from that federal payroll check. They are Trumpers. Estamos jodidos y no Unidos.
The prisoner vote is another ignored source of eligible voters. Those in jail because of a misdemeanor violation are eligible to register and vote. Most of these prisoners are there because of the imbalanced scale of justice. If you have money, you can post bail and be out until trial time. If not, you stay in jail and you have not even been found guilty of that misdemeanor. Only a felony conviction makes you ineligible. Read this again. A conviction, not a mere charge. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. These jail eligible voters can only vote in the county of residence for city, school, community college, county, state legislative and federal races on their ballot. There are hundreds of votes in local city jails, thousands in county jails, and even more out on bond. If you take this on as a special project you must be prompt, steady, consistent and tenacious from start to finish of the process.
College students away from home is another group of non-voters. They are not many but still their numbers are in the thousands across the country. The majority of Raza students are enrolled in community colleges and stay at home but do not vote. Their parents do not either. Voting is a habit and Raza have not acquired such a habit in any large numbers. Briefly during the presidential campaign of John Kennedy did Raza groups affiliated with LULAC and AGIF and PASO and MAPA push and got significant numbers of Raza to pay the poll tax in those states and register to vote and vote. Kennedy barely won because of the Raza vote in New Mexico and Texas. The rest of the southwest went for Richard Nixon.
If high schoolers were registered to vote by their high school senior year, they would continue to vote while in college. They could even elected the Trustees of their community college districts if they got organized.
These are the major reasons why were are Jodidos and not Unidos.
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