The Latino population in the U.S. has jumped 41 percent in the last nine years

July 16, 1999
Web posted at: 8:37 p.m. EDT (0037 GMT)

From Correspondent Charles Zewe

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (CNN) -- More than 6,000 delegates are expected at this week's convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in what organizers describe as a "coming of age" for Hispanics.

High birthrates and immigration have increased the Latino population in the United States by 41 percent in the last nine years, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Some 31 million Latinos comprise 11 percent of the U.S. population. With a median age of just 26, Hispanics have also become a dream demographic group for marketers, advertisers, and yes, politicians.

As a result, the current Republican and Democratic front- runners for the 2000 presidential nomination -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore -- have hit the campaign trail speaking Spanish.

"They all know the Hispanic vote will be very important next year in the elections and I think they're getting the message," said LULAC President Rick Dovalina.

Political candidates like George W. Bush are campaigning in Spanish

The message is that most Latinos live in eleven key presidential election states with a combined clout of 217 electoral votes. But savvy voters are likely to be more interested in the content of the message than the language it's delivered in.

"The question is going to be how each one attacks the issues appropriately, not how they speak Spanish to us," said Nelson Diaz of the Democratic National Committee.

For Corpus Christi resident Alex Ramirez, the new-found political clout translates into the respect many Hispanic voters have deserved for years.

"A lot of it will be pride---recognition that their grandparents and great-grandparents and their parents probably didn't have the opportunity to receive," he said.

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