The Republican National Committee is looking at the Coachella Valley as part of its nationwide effort to tap into the influential Latino voting bloc.
Indio Councilwoman Lupe Ramos Watson was one of nine California elected leaders named to a state advisory council on engaging Latino voters and potential candidates.
The council will work with Francis Barraza, the former executive director for the San Diego Republican Party who has been hired as the RNC’s new Hispanic state director.
“There needs to be an education campaign,” said Ramos Watson, who is being widely discussed as a potential state Assembly candidate in 2014.
“I think the Republican Party is put in a light that maybe is not as welcoming to some individuals who are Hispanics,” she added. “We’re hoping they can open up their minds and come to their own conclusions about which party they align with.”
Ramos Watson has been one of the most outspoken local leaders when it comes to the GOP’s need to energize Latino voters.
Democrats have, in recent years, been more successful engaging the community in their campaigns. Those efforts were considered a critical factor in Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz’s 2012 victory over Republican incumbent Mary Bono.
And since that election, Republicans have been quite frank about the need to replicate Democrats’ success, especially in the two big 2014 campaigns where white GOP candidates face Latinos.
Next year, Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit, a Bermuda Dunes Republican, is trying to avoid being ousted by Democratic Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez. And Republican Assemblyman Brian Nestande this week is formally launching his campaign to unseat Ruiz.
The RNC’s effort, unveiled last week, includes advisory councils in Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.
“We will engage with voters in their neighborhoods, towns, and cities to strengthen our ties with the Hispanic community,” Jennifer Sevilla Korn, RNC deputy political director for Hispanic initiatives, said in a statement.
“We are committed to creating a permanent year-round ground game that will allow us to compete for every vote and will outlast any one candidate or campaign.”
The RNC also plans to have field directors in place by the end of the year.
“This is just the beginning of our efforts in the Hispanic community,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in the statement. “We plan to hire and mobilize Hispanic engagement teams in 18 states to build a grassroots infrastructure.”
Raising their profiles
At least four of the local Assembly candidates will be in Sacramento this Wednesday for the Leadership California Institute’s bipartisan candidates forum.
By Friday, the group had confirmation from Republicans Gary Jeandron, Chris Mann and Chad Mayes — all in a 2014 battle for the 42nd Assembly District — as well as Coachella Mayor Eduardo Garcia, the Democratic candidate in the 56th Assembly race.
The Leadership California Institute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that hopes to create a forum for constructive political dialog, held a similar forum in 2011 with more than 40 candidates.
Wednesday’s daylong event will feature at least 30 candidates and a number of state business and political leaders.
Shared opinion
The Palm Springs City Council candidates took the stage for the second time last week.
While they had varying ideas for diversifying the local economy, they were all on the same page when it came to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians’ lawsuit against local water agencies over the rights to the valley’s groundwater source.
And that’s to stay out of it.
“That’s like asking the water board if they want to make a decision on a city council issue,” Palm Springs Councilwoman Ginny Foat said when pressed about whether city leaders should pick sides.
“This is a legal matter that I don’t think has any place for city involvement.”
Honored
Northwood University will induct Indian Wells Mayor Mary Roche into its 2013 Class of Distinguished Women during a two-day celebration in Dallas later this month.
The annual recognition honors women who contribute to communities, businesses and nonprofits.
Bono, a Palm Springs Republican, was a 2004 honoree. The late Jackie Lee Houston, a Palm Springs philanthropist, was honored in 1998.
Roche has participated in more than 20 philanthropic organizations, including Shelter from the Storm and the Desert Horizon’s Women’s Club, which she founded. She was nominated by two previous honorees.
Northwood has honored more than 350 women with its Distinguished Women’s Award since 1970. The university is based in Midland, Mich., with a Dallas campus.
Recent Endorsements
The Coachella-Imperial Valleys Strategies PAC and the Desert Valleys Builders Association are endorsing a slate of incumbents: Foat and Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Chris Mills; Desert Hot Springs’ Yvonne Parks, Mayor Pro Tem Scott Matas, and Councilwoman Jan Pye; Desert Water Agency directors James Cioffi, Pat Oygar and Joe Stuart; and Mission Springs Water District board members Jeff Bowman and Nancy Wright.
Parks, Matas and Pye also are backed by community members Courtney Moe, Roger Rice and Henry and Donna Lozano.
Cioffi is backed by former Palm Springs Councilman Mike McCulloch and community members Aftab Dada and Joe Garcia.
Desert Water Agency challenger Michael Paduano is endorsed by the Democratic Vets of the Desert, Riverside County Auditor-Controller Paul Angulo, and community members Patrick Mundt and Barbara Wisbey.
Dave Nyczepir and Xochitl Peña contributed to this column. Erica Felci is a political reporter for The Desert Sun. She can be reached at (760) 778-4644, erica.felci@thedesertsun.com, or @EricaFelci on Twitter.
