Oregon Public Broadcasting

New U.S. Census data shows the Northwest is home to more Latinos than ever. In Central Oregon, the Hispanic community has doubled over the last seven years.

Washington State has two counties, Franklin and Adams, that are now majority Latino.

In Idaho, Canyon County east of Boise is now 20 percent Latino.

All of that speaks to the growing influence of Latinos in the Northwest. But will this growing population turn out to elect a president in November? Both Barack Obama and John McCain hope so.

Correspondent Anna King met up with a Democratic team trying to get out the Latino vote in Yakima, Washington.

Ivan Garcia, 21, of Yakima, works for Washington State Democrats’ Latino Vote Project. He hands out information on Democratic candidates and shows people how to fill out their ballot properly.

Ivan Garcia knocks on a lot of doors: About 80 a day.

Some people peek out at him through the curtains. Sometimes they actually answer the door.

Garcia is 21 years old. He’s been chosen for this job because he’s Latino, young, works for little pay and doesn’t mind putting in six long days a week. Plus, he grew up on this side of Yakima.

His job: Turn registered voters into people who cast ballots. He’s persistent.

Ivan Garcia: "It’s OK we don’t quit. It sounds annoying, but I mean it really does make a difference. Sometimes we just have to annoy the crap out of someone before they say, ‘Fine, alright. I’ll do it. Now will you stop knocking on my door?’"

To do his job Garcia walks with purpose. He battles the Yakima Valley sun with bottled water. And he avoids dogs at all cost.

Ivan Garcia: "Once in a while you get those little ankle biters. They chew on your ankle bones."

The Washington Democratic Party is spending about $95,000 this year to get out the Latino vote.

The party is phoning people and playing radio ads. But they are also paying five full-time Latinos like Garcia to work neighborhoods.

Garcia says there’re lots of reasons Latinos don’t vote: Many aren’t citizens. Some can’t read.

Much of the population is younger than 18. Some have roots in countries where voting is rigged. But Garcia says, sometimes Latinos don’t vote for a simpler reason. They’re just plain tired.

Ivan Garcia: "The majority of the Latinos work in the agriculture industry. Their lives consist of like 10 hour work days. Where you go to work, you come home, either you have to feed your families and rest. That’s just how the lifestyle is in Central Washington. So a lot of people don’t think about politics. They think it’s a waste of time."

Garcia understands. His father works for a vineyard. And up until this year, Garcia didn’t vote either.

I asked Latino organizers for McCain what they are doing to get out the vote. After repeated phone calls over the course of a few weeks, I gave up.

What I do know is this: McCain has a Spanish-language Web site. The Republicans also started up a group called Washington Hispanics for McCain. But the party is unwilling to share how many people make up that group or how much money it’s putting into the project. But....

McCain did just get the endorsement of a way-popular Puerto Rican reggaeton recording artist, Daddy Yankee.

The truth is Latinos in our region won’t likely decide the election. They might in states like Colorado, Nevada and Florida.

So what will it take to motivate Northwest Latinos to vote in the long run?

Paul Apostolidis teaches political science at Whitman College in Walla Walla. He says getting out the Latino vote won’t work unless people continue to court the population in between presidential election years.

Paul Apostolidis: "The problem is if you want things to change only in big presidential years you’re right you are going to be a little disappointed. Because it’s a cumulative process that involves increasing activism in all levels of our federal, local and state political system."

Increasing that activism in the Northwest is still very much a work in progress.

Online:

Yakima Latino Vote Project Facebook page

McCain’s Hispanic Web site