Nationwide conversations on this year’s election have focused on the presidential race, but local elections are equally as important, especially for Latino voters, said Maria Jimenez, founder of Poder Común.
“We have a population of people who have truly been left out,” Jimenez said, adding that there’s a need to engage with Latino voters in Eastern Washington.
Poder Común was founded by Jimenez in 2020 and is the bilingual branch of Common Power, an organization that partners with campaigns and helps them canvas.
Since 2023, Poder Común has focused on working in Eastern Washington to increase Latino voter engagement in local elections by partnering with campaigns like Maria Beltran’s, who is running for state senate in Washington’s 14th legislative district.
Beltran is one of four Latina candidates running for a seat in the 14th legislative district, where Latinos make up over 50% of the voting population.
As a daughter of immigrants and farmworkers, Beltran said she remembers how her parents worked multiple laborious jobs to put food on the table and pay rent.
“It felt like no one was looking out for us,” she said. “I felt like we were being left out.”
Beltran said experience inspired her to attend school, help make a difference in her community, and ultimately run for office.
In a predominantly Latino district, the rise of Latina candidates on the ballot may encourage voters to vote in the upcoming local elections, Jimenez said.
“I feel like people definitely get excited and are more likely to vote if there’s somebody that looks like them and can understand them better,” she added.
Beltran’s campaign has focused on targeting “low-propensity voters”, meaning they’ve previously voted in major elections such as the 2020 election but haven’t consistently engaged in local elections since.
“Nobody knew what a state senator was,” Beltran said. “A lot of it has come down to, historically, the people who have been representing us and who have been winning elections have never gone above and beyond to engage us in this electoral process.”
When talking to voters in these communities for Beltran’s campaign, Jimenez recalls people telling her they hadn’t voted because they believed their votes didn’t matter.
To help mitigate this, Poder Común and the Beltran campaign have made information accessible in English and Spanish.
“We bring volunteers to engage voters in their language,” Jimenez said, adding that they also focus on educating voters on the importance of local elections and how it can help them.
According to Jimenez, when talking to voters, the most common issue Latino voters bring up is the economy due to the rising cost of living.
A recent report found that Washington state was the 8th most expensive state for household bills.
“I think one of the most important things for people in those areas is actually not immigration, like a lot of people assume,” Jimenez said.
Other issues voters said they were concerned about crime and violence, lack of infrastructure, and access to affordable healthcare and education.
Washington’s 14th district received national attention after Latino voters filed a federal lawsuit in 2022, which alleged that the approved legislative district maps violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the clout of Latino voters in Central Washington, according to The Seattle Times.
After voters won the lawsuit, the new maps used in this year’s elections would give candidates like Beltran a shot at a seat in the state senate, currently occupied by Republican incumbent Curtis King, who has been in office since 2007.
“I think this redistricting will give Maria Beltran and anyone else at least a more fair opportunity and to at least have a chance,” Jimenez said.
Following the lawsuit, the 14th legislative district is one of the most closely watched races for the Washington legislature this year.
For Jimenez, the main motivator for continuing this work is her conversations with voters who look like her and remind her of her own family.
“After going [to Eastern Washington] and experiencing voters there, I cannot turn my head around anymore,” Jimenez said. “It’s almost impossible. You can’t turn your head around when there’s so much need there.”
Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero is a journalist passionate about creating stories that spark conversations and inform readers. Through her reporting she hopes to empower underrepresented communities through human-interest storytelling. Her work has been featured in The Seattle Times, Samoa Observer, The News Tribune, and other local publications. You can reach her at jacquelynjmzr@gmail.com or on X at: @journojacquelyn