‘Left behind.’ WA Latina candidates focus on overlooked Pasco, Yakima Valley voters
On a hot Saturday morning, Maria Beltran walked up and down the streets of a neighborhood in Toppenish, canvassing residents in Washington state’s 14th Legislative District.
Despite the heat, she remained committed to her purpose — reaching voters and sharing her story.
Nearly everyone she spoke with was Latino and Spanish-speaking.
Beltran is one of four Latina candidates campaigning for a first-time seat in the Legislature.
Republicans Gloria Mendoza and Andy Kallinen, as well as Democrat Chelsea Dimas from Sunnyside, are vying for Position 1 in the House.
Pasco’s Ana Ruiz Kennedy, a Democrat, is running for Position 2 against independent Eddie Perez and Republican Deb Manjarrez.
Voters in the newly redrawn Latino-majority district are just over 50% Hispanic.
It includes a chunk of Pasco, east Yakima, Sunnyside, Granger, Mabton, Grandview and the Yakama Nation Reservation, and extends west to Lyle.
The redistricting was controversial and in the end, blasted by many Republicans as a move that favored Democrats.
But Beltran contends that it’s less about the political divide and more about representing the people who have felt left behind.
Her focus is on more than Latino voters.
“It’s about representing this community’s values,” Beltran told the Herald.
“It’s not just about Latino voters. It’s about everyone in this new district who has been left behind.”
Beltran is running for the Senate seat as a Democrat, challenging Republican Curtis King of Yakima. King has held the position for seven years.
The race appears on the Aug. 6 primary ballot, but won’t be decided until the general election. The state House races will be narrowed to the two candidates with the most votes, who will then face off in November.
Door-knocking in Toppenish
Walking with Beltran as she shook hands in Toppenish, it’s easy to see why she’s been successful so far connecting with voters.
After greeting one man in his yard, she told him about growing up in Yakima and how she aims, if elected, to be a voice for Latinos in the district.
He shared his experiences as a farmworker, explaining the rising demand for H-2A workers, difficult working conditions in the heat and some of the inequality he has experienced as a domestic farmworker.
Beltran said her parents are immigrants and farmworkers.
They couldn’t afford childcare when she was growing up, so she and her younger brother woke up at 4 a.m. to join their parents as they worked in the fruit orchards.
That life experience makes her interactions with residents instantly more comfortable.
“They open up when they see someone like me,” Beltran said.
Beltran, Dimas and Kennedy have been coordinating their visits to various areas in their district.
Some of the issues they’ve heard about most have been affordability, such as grocery and gas prices, housing, healthcare and K-12 education.
“The cool thing about our campaigns is that we bring different life experiences and different sets of skills,” Beltran said.
“Together, we all represent different parts of the district.”’
Latino voters in 14th
Latino voters have shown more partisan diversity, particularly in a district that aligns with Republican values. As a demographic, Latinos don’t vote for one party over another.
The redrawn district was a result of a court ruling in August that found the 15th District, as drawn by the Washington State Redistricting Commission, diluted Latino voter power and was not compliant with federal voting rights laws.
In March, when the district map was approved, The Seattle Times reported that there are slightly fewer Latino voters in the 14th District than in the 15th District.
“The Voting Rights Act was supposed to empower affected minority populations. This map decreases the number of Hispanics” in the key district, Republican Senator Nikki Torres from Pasco told the Times.
“This map is a mockery of the Voting Rights Act. This map disenfranchised Hispanics — all to help the Democratic Party gain seats.”
But U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik ruled that Latinos are actually projected to have more influence in the new district.
Latino voter turnout is usually higher in U.S. presidential election years and Washington holds state Senate elections for the 14th District during those years.
‘Fresh perspectives’
Party leaders are looking to Latina candidates now to energize voters in the 14th and increase representation of Latinos at all levels of government.
“People are excited by the possibility of fresh perspectives, especially when they haven’t felt part of the political process,” Beltran said.
The 14th District races also could be key for Democrats who want to win supermajorities in both the House and Senate.
“The probability is likely” that the redrawn 14th District will elect Democrats this year, Mark Gaber told The Seattle Times. He is the senior director of redistricting at the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center.
Washington Democrats are only 12 seats away — four in the state Senate and eight in the House — from earning supermajorities in the 2025 Legislature.
They currently hold 29 of 49 seats in the Senate and 58 of 98 seats in the House.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘Left behind.’ WA Latina candidates focus on overlooked Pasco, Yakima Valley voters."
