Political women join forces to promote Latinas in office

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They are usually at opposite ends of the political spectrum. But on Tuesday, Florida Sen. Anitere Flores (R-Kendall) and Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairwoman Annette Taddeo will join forces as two Miami Latinas who have sought political office — one getting there (Flores, right), the other not (Taddeo, left)– during an event to promote more representation of and by Hispanic women.

The steady growth of the Hispanic population has us at 17 percent today. If half of all Americans are female, it stands to reason that we Latinas are 8 percent of the entire national population. And, still, of the more than 25 million or so Hispanic women nationwide, only 109 are currently serving in elected office at state and national levels.

That includes  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Latina elected to the United States Congress — in 1989.

Wait — 109? Is that all? Doesn’t seem like we’ve come such a long way. Baby.

While Ladra is quite sure the 305 all by itself has close to 100 Latinas in local office, the point of Tuesday’s talk is taking that representation to the state and federal government. It is one of multiple conversations across the country about “emboldening” Latina candidates for office. This obviously bipartisan campaign is organized by LatinasRepresent, a joint initiative of Political Parity and the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda. Launched in Denver three months ago, there have already been community conversations in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

Miami seemed like a natural next location — not only because it is Florida’s second largest city (first biggest if you count the suburbs), but also because it is one of the areas with the highest concentrations of Hispanic voters.

“It’s important for Hispanic women to hear from other Hispanic women that it can be done,” Flores told Ladra Monday. “Too often we sell ourselves short.”

Sen. Flores and Taddeo — who actually didn’t get it “done” when she ran against the first woman ever elected to Congress in 2008, but gets points for trying — will share their stories and answer questions from participants. The reception at the Garden Building, which begins at 6 p.m. at 175 NE 40th St., will also feature new data from Political Parity on women in politics.

And even though we may not learn anything new, Ladra may go just to see if there’s a cat fight!

  Anitere Flores, Annette Taddeo