Latino politics

Join Danielle Clealand and Victoria DeFrancesco Soto as they discuss how Latinos across the country voted in the 2020 election. They discuss turnout, state differences, political ground games and how a diverse set of voters helped to elect President-elect Biden.

Our LatinXperts discuss how Latinos in different states voted this November and why we see such diverse voting behavior. We discuss Florida and areas of Texas where Latinos supported Trump, but also emphasize the ways in which turnout among Latinos was consequential in states such as Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania. We also discuss racial differences and how the media focuses on Trump support rather than the overwhelming support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Danielle Pilar Clealand is an associate professor of Mexican American and Latino Studies at UT Austin and holds a courtesy appointment in African and African Diaspora Studies. She studies racial politics and Black consciousness in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and the United States and received her PhD in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Follow Dr. Clealand on Twitter: @ClealandPhD

Victoria DeFrancesco Soto is Assistant Dean for Civic Engagement and a lecturer at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, where she was selected as one of UT’s Game Changers. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Department of Mexican American and Latino Studies and the Center for Mexican American Studies. She received her PhD in political science from Duke University.

Follow Dr. DeFrancesco Soto on Twitter: @DrVMDS

Public opinion polls consistently report data by the categories of white, black, and Latino. This approach erases the experiences of Afro-Latinos, who reportedly make up nearly ¼ of the US Latino population. How do such polls miss the mark on Latino public opinion? What would it look like if Afro-Latinos were centered in Latino politics?

Danielle Clealand received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Political Science and joined the faculty at Florida International University in 2012. Her research examines comparative racial politics, group consciousness, black public opinion and racial inequality with a focus on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and the United States.

Dr. Clealand’s book, The Power of Race in Cuba: Racial Ideology and Black Consciousness during the Revolution, winner of the 2018 Best Book Award from the Race, Ethnicity and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association and W.E.B. DuBois Distinguished Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, examines racial ideology and the institutional mechanisms that support racial inequality in Cuba as well as black public opinion. Previously an associate professor in the Department of Politics and international Relations at Florida International University, Dr. Clealand will begin as an Associate Professor in Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in fall 2020.

Karma Chávez is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at UT.

Follow this week’s guests on Twitter:
Karma: @queermigrations
Danielle: @ClealandPhD

Visit Dr. Clealand’s website at danielleclealand.com

Additional Resources
I’m Afro-Latino, but I can’t join both the black and Hispanic caucuses in Congress. That must change.
Why This Census of US Afro-Latinos Is Groundbreaking
afrolatin@ forum
Afro-Latino: A deeply rooted identity among U.S. Hispanics