ACTIVISTS AIMING TO ENTICE ASIANS, LATINOS TO POLLS IMMIGRANT GROUPS HOPE TO FEED OFF RECENT PROTESTS.

Byline: RACHEL URANGA Staff Writer

Even as Latinos in recent weeks have pushed for immigration reform on the streets and over the airwaves, another goal has emerged among a broader immigrant community: to translate street activism into political participation.

Both Latino and Asian civic groups last week reignited voter-registration drives, calling upon the thousands of protesters to take their enthusiasm to the ballot box in November.

But experts say if history serves as any guide, short-term gains are likely to be few, while long-term gains will be significant.

``If the next step and what we are seeing in the streets moves toward citizenship, voter turnout and registration, if that has any kind of legs beyond this year it will make California the darkest shade of blue possible and give rise to more Latino candidates at all levels,'' said Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute at California State University, Los Angeles.

``It will probably usher in a decade of increased Latino political victories. But, that's if things play out as organizers hope they play out.''

For now, organizers of Latino and Asian immigrant rights groups say not since 1994 when a proposition to deny illegal immigrants social services was on the California ballot has there been such an urgency among their communities to register to vote.

Still, some election experts say boosting Latino and other immigrant communities' numbers on the voter rolls will likely do little to change the immediate political landscape in Southern California.

While the rest of the country is grappling with a chasm between the Latino population and the dearth of elected Latino officials, California has gained an entrenched Latino political class.

But despite steady gains among Latinos over the past decade that have reshaped the state Legislature and local political races, heavily gerrymandered Latino districts all but continue to ensure partisan wins in Southern California.

And some argue that mostly Democratic Latinos are merely picking among similar candidates, from city council districts to state legislative seats.

``In the Latino districts there is not that much disagreement ... And overwhelmingly, non-Hispanics don't like to touch certain issues (like immigration),'' said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican strategist. ``Some Democrats have gotten so soft, and to get harsh would turn off Latinos.''

A prime example is the Northeast Valley's 20th Senate District race between Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla and Assemblywoman Cindy MontaIllegal 'X-value' for character STYLs voided here ez, D-Mission Hills, where many see few differences in their stances on the issues and instead whittle the race down to endorsements and personalities.

While efforts are afoot to qualify a November ballot initiative that would place redistricting in the hands of citizens rather than politicians, for now statewide candidates from governor to controller must make direct appeals to Latino voters, many of whom are demanding to know their stance on immigration.

``Everyone knows if you don't get 35 percent of the Latino vote you can't win,'' Hoffenblum said.

Meanwhile, experts say the boost in Asian votes over the past decade has spawned a viable constituency for such candidates as John Chiang, who is running for controller, and Betty Yee and Assemblywoman Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park, running for the State Board of Equalization.

With more than 500,000 eligible Asian voters not yet registered, experts say Asian-Americans could decide these statewide races in California.

But until 1994, many considered their votes marginal, particularly the Latino vote, with about 7 percent of turnout. Still, it was also the year that a slow tide -- prompted by Proposition 187, which would restrict social services to immigrants -- changed the face of California politics.

Many Latinos and Asians -- outraged by Republican support of what was viewed by many as an anti-immigrant proposal -- turned away from the Republican Party. From 1994 to 2000, Republicans lost 10 state Assembly seats -- shrinking to 31.

In 1994, then-Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa was elected to represent the 45th Assembly District and rose to the rank of speaker. It was also the year the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus was created.

By 1996, term limits took effect as a galvanized coalition of Latino groups organized voters. Villaraigosa was followed by a string of Latino and Asian elected officials.

Today, the Latino Caucus boasts 27 members, up from 14 in 1996, and is considered a heavy hitter in Sacramento. Its place was in part secured by the tide of Latino voters. During that same period nearly a million Latinos registered to vote statewide.

``What 187 and its aftermath did is make California a deeper shade of blue. It drove additional Latinos into the Democratic Party,'' Regalado said. ``That sleeping giant label Latinos had for so long was to a large degree laid to rest.''

But although register rolls could spike, turning voters out could prove difficult in upcoming state elections where new voters -- both Latino and Asian -- cannot clearly see their issues spelled out as they did in 1994, he said.

And organizers will continue to face challenges registering immigrants -- who proportionally vote less than their white counterparts -- partly because of what a 2005 California Voter Foundation survey suggests is a lack of a ``pro-voting culture.''

Statewide, only 30 percent of Latinos eligible to vote are registered, according to the William C. Velasquez Institute, a think tank that examines Latino voting trends. That compares with 72 percent of whites and 68 percent of blacks.

Moreover, Latino and Asian populations are heavily dominated by immigrants. Nationally, about 64 percent of Asians are foreign-born, as are 40 percent of Latinos -- compared with just 3 percent of whites, according to a 1994 study by the Urban Institute on Latino and Asian Voters.

``The population of the state is growing young and more diverse but the electorate has been stagnant,'' said Kim Alexander, president of the foundation, a nonprofit group that tracks voting trends. ``It continues to be those that are older, white and better educated that are voting. Those trends can be turned around and they need to be turned around.''

Even in areas such as Los Angeles, where Latinos played a pivotal role last year in electing Villaraigosa to the city's helm, they turned out in far lower numbers than the general voting population.

Over the past year, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights has been registering voters outside citizenship ceremonies. More than 30,000 new citizens have been registered.

But unlike Latinos and Asians of the past, who leaned heavily Democratic, these new citizens are divided equally among parties and express less loyalty, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the immigrants-rights group. And much of their politics is formed by immigration experiences.

Over the next few months, CHIRLA, with the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote, will be working on a national immigration platform, working to increase the rolls in areas where there are propositions affecting Latinos and where the debate becomes heated among candidates.

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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