Sep 27, 2021 - Business

Latino biz group jumps into voter registration

Asher Price

A person wears a Vota! facemask. — A guest listens as President Biden speaks during a meeting with Latino community leaders at the White House in August. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

A Latino business owners group tells Axios it's launching a political action committee, with its first voter registration event happening Tuesday evening.

Why it matters: The Hispanic Advocates and Business Leaders of Austin says its new Vota Action Fund is "dedicated to supporting the next generation of Latino leaders and candidates."

The PAC's strategies include targeting high schoolers; 55% of Austin Independent School District's nearly 80,000 students are Latino.
"We have lots of eligible and newly eligible young people we want to target," Paul Saldaña, part of the HABLA leadership team and a former Austin school board member, tells Axios.

Between the lines: HABLA's new political arm makes it at least the second Latino-oriented Democratic group in Travis County to offer endorsements. The Austin Tejano Democrats has long been the dominant endorsement club to gain Latino support in local elections.

Saldaña told Axios HABLA is aiming to work with more progressive Latino candidates.

What to watch: To celebrate National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, VOTA Action Fund and the Eastside Guardians, a group that promotes housing affordability and economic diversity in East Austin, will register voters Tuesday from 5:30-7:30pm at Parque Zaragoza, 2608 Gonzales St.

Oct. 4 is the final day to register to vote ahead of the city- and state-level election on Nov. 2.

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Latino biz group jumps into voter registration

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