Oregon Public Broadcasting

In Washington, Oregon and Idaho there are nearly 50 Latino politicians in office this year. Eight are running for major state and federal offices this November.

The numbers are up from 10 years ago, when only 13 Latino candidates were elected into office.

Their progress is a reflection of the changing demographics of the Pacific Northwest, as correspondent Anna King reports.

We're at a Latino business luncheon in Yakima, Washington. Politicians are trying to earn a few votes here, speaking to about 60 community leaders.

Vickie Ybarra: "For those of you who donít know me I am Vickie Ybarra."

More Latino candidates than ever are running for office in the Yakima area. But it isn't just Hispanic candidates at the podium.

White candidates are also paying more attention to the Latino community here. Today's political speeches have lured people like 22-year-old Maria Garcia here to listen.

Maria Garcia: "The elections are coming up and we need to see as a community who do we want to represent us and our needs you know here in the Yakima Valley."

Like many Latinos, Garcia is not yet a U.S. citizen, so she can't vote. But a growing number of Northwest Latinos are becoming citizens and are registering to vote.

Chris Ramirez, 22, of Yakima, is a Democrat running for Washington State's House of Representatives. He's one of a growing number of Latino candidates in the Pacific Northwest.

One of the politicians who hopes to tap into the demographic changes is Chris Ramirez.

He's still in his twenties, but he's already running for the Washington State House of Representatives.

Chris Ramirez: "If I don't step up and try to represent our community who's going to speak up for the Hispanic community? Who's going to speak up for marginalized communities everywhere in the Yakima? Not our current representation. It's not going to be them. We've seen what they can do and I think itís time to have a new vision and a new voice."

Ramirez says his own story reflects the growing number of Hispanics that are earning college degrees and becoming more affluent. He just graduated from Pacific Lutheran University.

He says third and fourth generation Latinos like himself are far better off than their grandparents. And theyíre also more willing to be in the public eye.

Chris Ramirez: "We literally had nothing. My dadís family had a family of nine and they lived in a one bedroom house, for nine people. They didn't have indoor plumbing. And now I am in this position where I can give back. Without their hard work it wouldn't be possible."

But hard work alone often doesn't get Latinos elected.

Paul Apostolidis studies politics and Latinos at Whitman College in Walla Walla. He says one challenge Hispanic candidates face is the at-large election system in many local governments.

That's where voters can vote for any of the candidates, instead of just the ones in their district.

Apostolidis says that makes it nearly impossible for Latino neighborhoods to elect Latino leaders.

Paul Apostolidis: "The solution to that, as the courts have said for the last 40 years, is to shift from an at-large system to a district-based electoral system. And our research has shown that especially around Yakima that would be very helpful especially in school board races out in some of the smaller towns."

No matter what the election, white candidates canít ignore Latino voters and Latino politicians can't ignore whites either.

That's according to Matt Barreto. He teaches political science at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Matt Barreto: "A lot of these cities are split 50/50, 50 percent Latino and 50 percent non-Latino. Any successful politician whether they are Latino or white needs to appeal to the entire population there to advance their candidacy and attract voters."

Barreto says the Latino population in the Northwest continues to grow. So even it more Latinos aren't elected this year, they will be in the future.