Arizona Latinos account for nearly 30% of our state’s population according to the. Of that 30%, 24% are eligible voters. So, what does this mean for the Latino vote in Arizona, and how did that contribute to the state flipping blue on the presidential ballot for the first time since 1996? 

Latinos historically tend to vote Democrat, but in recent years we have seen an from the Latino community, specifically in Texas and Florida. So why is Arizona the exception?  

Comprehensive analyses of Arizona’s voter demographics will take months to surface, but based on polls from and other national news sources, Biden won the Arizona Latino vote. However, what is more important is that his margins in these communities seems to have narrowed. 

The most prominent election issue Latinos cited was immigration. Eduardo Sainz of Mi Familia Vota, a grassroots organization that promotes the Latino vote, immigration was his greatest motivation for this year’s election. However, an overlooked motivation was concern for family.  

Many Latino voters in Arizona cast their votes based on past experiences living in the state, and  as an example of why they voted blue this november. This election needs to serve as a lesson for those seeking the Latino vote; last-minute outreach efforts, pandering, and symbolic efforts do not work with most of the state’s Latino voters. 

, in 2020 the Latino population surpassed the Black population as the largest non-white voting group. Given this data, Latinos want more representation within and outreach from the major political parties.  

Arizona had a record turnout among Latinos, but more specifically Maricopa County’s largely Latino precincts. These precincts, however, were not made up of the consistent Democrat turnout one might expect. The Arizona Republic released an that illustrated the fact Donald Trump performed better this year in Maryvale and South Phoenix then he did previously. It is worth noting that he lost in these precincts by considerable margins, but nonetheless slimmed his margins among these communities. 

Leading up to the election, to Arizona in an attempt not only to rally his base but also to win over our state’s conservative Latinos who have helped elect Republicans in the past. 

Latino organizers within the state that Democrats do not realize the power in community-centric organizing. What politicians and the major political parties must realize is that in order to win the Latino vote there needs to be an understanding that Latinos in Florida, California, New Mexico, and Arizona are all different and have different experiences. 

An accurate understanding of Latino voters in Arizona has to be based on more than just the Latino communities in other states like Florida. As such, the same strategy employed in one area will not work in another. In this election both parties made the mistake of assuming that what appeals to Latino voters in California or Texas, will work here in Arizona.

Diego Píña is an undergraduate at Arizona State University and a Junior Fellow with the Arizona �鶹��ýӳ�� Foundation.

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The Florida Tomato Exchange filed a request to continue the antidumping investigation of fresh tomatoes from Mexico.

The action to reignite the investigation comes just one month after the United States Department of Commerce signed a new suspension agreement with the Mexican tomato industry.

“U.S. trade law, however, permits domestic producers to request continuation of the investigation,” the Florida Tomato Exchange (FTE) wrote in a . “The FTE is taking this action reluctantly. The Department of Commerce did an excellent job under difficult circumstances negotiating the new suspension agreement, which the FTE continues to support.

“Unfortunately, the Mexican tomato industry does not agree and has signaled its intention to challenge the agreement legally and politically, even though they signed the agreement just last month,” the statement said.��

The FTE’s decision to request a continuation of the investigation follows an Oct. 3 letter from the Mexican growers associations, CAADES, that “signaled a strong likelihood that they will challenge the new suspension agreement in court.”

After the FTE announcement, the Mexican tomato growers released a statement saying the FTE’s announcement is misleading and mischaracterizing recent events.

“We are surprised by the announcement that the FTE is seeking a continuation of the antidumping investigation that could void the agreement recently reached with the Commerce Department after many months of negotiations,” the Mexican tomato growers said in the .

According to the Mexican tomato growers, the Oct. 3 letter did not signal an intent to either challenge the agreement in court nor renegotiate the agreement. It was simply correcting the characterization of data and “unfounded allegations” put on the record after the agreement was signed.

“The Mexican tomato industry negotiated its agreement with the Commerce Department in good faith and has every intention of abiding with that agreement throughout its term. So long as the agreement is administered in good faith and in accordance with its terms, the Mexican industry has no intention of ever withdrawing,” the Mexican tomato growers continued.

The new suspension agreement will remain in effect during the new investigation. Upon completion, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission will determine whether or not Mexican tomatoes were dumped in the U.S. and if the dumping harmed the U.S. tomato industry, according to the FTE.

“If both determinations are affirmative, the suspension�� agreement will remain in place, and duties will not�� be imposed so long as the agreement is in effect. Alternatively, if there is a negative finding, the proceeding will end, the suspension agreement will be terminated, and there will be free trade,” FTE said in the statement.

“The data show clearly that U.S. producers are not injured or threatened with injury by imports from Mexico. Rather, our growers have done just what good, private companies should do. We have spent billions of dollars over recent years converting our production to greenhouses and other protected agriculture types of production to bring a fresher, vine-ripe tomato to the U.S. market. U.S. consumers have turned to those tomatoes not because they are cheaper, because they are not, but because they are fresher and tastier and simply a better product,” said Rosario Beltran, president of CAADES.

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