New York – Pedro “Pete” Marín, the first Latino and Puerto Rican in the Georgia State Legislature, is convinced that it will be “a long night” in the state after polling stations close on November 5 as part of the general elections.
“November 5, 2024 is going to be a long night. There are several states, including us, that are seeing whether we are going to go red (Republican) or blue (Democratic). “We are in the clear, so to speak,” Marín described the changing character of Georgia in electoral terms.
Marín, whose last term ends this year after 22 years representing Gwinnett County, which is home to the highest Hispanic population in the state, does not speak from a vacuum. Georgia is one of the seven most contested states in the presidential race or that determines the final results of the elections. This electoral cycle will not be the exception.
The state representative, who decided not to seek a new term and is retiring this year to make way for “new blood,” spoke exclusively with El Diario about his expectations regarding the competitive race that pits Democrat Kamala Harris against Republican Donald Trump.
The importance of the Puerto Rican and Latino vote in general in Georgia
In addition, the politician addressed the potential of the Puerto Rican and Latino vote in the state. Georgia is currently home to more than 1 million Hispanics. Of that amount, the Puerto Rican population exceeds 100,000. Census data for 2021 pointed to 131,779.
The results of a poll by Fox News, a conservative media outlet, released this Thursday placed the vice president 3 points above Trump among voters in that state.
51% of respondents registered to vote expressed support for Harris while 48% for her opponent. The Democrat’s advantage remains stable when compared to the August survey, in which she surpassed the Republican by 50% versus 48% among registered voters.
Another CBS poll, however, had Harris trailing Trump by 2 percentage points, 49% versus 51%, respectively. The results of that survey were released on Wednesday.
In the last election, approximately 12,000 votes defined the contest between Trump and President Joe Biden in Georgia.
Trump is currently facing charges in the state in the case of interference in the results of the 2020 elections.
This month, the judge in the case dismissed two of the charges against Trump. However, he did not give way to the request of the former president’s lawyers to dismiss the entire lawsuit.
In August 2023, Trump and 18 others were accused of participating in a scheme to try to illegally overturn the results of the Georgia election in which Biden prevailed.
It should be noted that the investigation in Georgia took off following an alleged call, on January 2, 2021, by Trump to the Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, to help him find the votes necessary to win the state.
The questioned actions of the Georgia State Board of Elections
On the other hand, recent actions taken by three of the five members of the Georgia State Board of Elections have been questioned by Democrats who believe that Republicans have exceeded their powers.
Members of the body are divided on issues such as vote counting and certification of results after the three members who support Trump’s candidacy approved several rules establishing changes to those processes.
Certification of results by the Georgia electoral board
“There is talk that the Georgia elections board approved a rule that impacts or may delay the certification of results until there is a ‘reasonable inquiry’; I ask you, with the precedent that we already saw in 2020 and now with this type of measure, what do you foresee? Could a similar situation arise if Trump did not prevail in Georgia?
“Yes, yes, and, of course, we strongly disagreed with the appointment of those three members of the election committee. Number 1, the House of Representatives and the Senate voted for the Secretary of State not to be part of the Board of Elections; Why, because he was one of those who criticized the former president…So the MAGA Republicans here in Georgia, the first thing they did was, ‘let’s get him out of any decision.’ “So, they appointed three representatives to the elections committee who are very close to the movement of former President Trump,” responded the legislator who served on the executive committee of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL) between 2006 and 2019.
Marín reported that the Democratic caucus asked the governor of Georgia, Brian Porter Kemp, to explain what the scenarios could be, as a result of the new rules, if in the next elections the results are separated by a narrow margin.
“The governor’s response was that he was going to see if he had the power to remove those people from the committee. He brought in the attorney general of the state of Georgia to make a decision. But, at that time, there has not been a decision. Politically, you have to understand that the governor of the state of Georgia is going to run for the Senate in 2026, and the attorney general is going to run for governor, so they do not want to have that friction with the Republican Party,” he highlighted.
A week ago, the elections board approved requiring counties to manually recount votes cast on Election Day, a move that could extend the process.
Democrats decided to go to court this week to force Kemp to move forward with ethics complaints against the three Republicans on the election board, arguing that they exceeded their legal authority by approving those rules.
Trust in Kamala Harris’ candidacy potential
Despite the unforeseen events that could occur in the elections in Georgia and the close nature of the race, Marín sees possibilities for the Democrats to prevail in the presidential elections after Biden’s victory in 2020.
The Democrat described Harris’ arrival in the presidential race as a “rebirth” for the Democratic Party that he compared to that registered with Barack Obama’s candidacy.
“This has been like a rebirth. Always thanking President Biden for his work over 50 years. I have been 22 and I know the sacrifice one has when one is an elected official. This has been like a change. I am going to compare these elections, now in 2024, with Obama’s first election; that enthusiasm that there was then with Senator Obama,” he indicated.
“I would tell you that there is a new energy. Of the candidates, the oldest is the other. We saw it in the debate. Historically, the United States has always elected either senators or governors for president. With Trump we left that base and a businessman was elected. When you become president, you have to have a little more experience in public policy, in working with both chambers, and he had none of that. I would tell you that now, basically, having Kamala this has felt like an awakening. “I am talking to people every day and they are excited,” he continued.
However, the politician added that Harris should not be confident because the race is still very close.
“However, they are neck and neck. Here in Georgia, I think Trump is ahead by 1% or 2%. Biden, remember that he won by 11,000 votes, I remember that call that Trump made to the Secretary of State to get him 11,000 or so votes so he could win Georgia. So it’s not going to be a surprise, but I know that we are going to be up until late at night seeing who is going to become president,” the assemblyman insisted.
Why is Georgia such a close state?
What makes Georgia so competitive electorally is, among other things, the division between voters in more rural areas versus those who reside in Atlanta and surrounding areas, he explained.
“Why? Because if you look at the political map, around Atlanta, the metro area, there are about 20 or so counties, mostly Democratic counties. The rest, what they call the rural part, is still a Republican bastion. When we lost the House in 2005, it was the factor that 11 Democratic representatives changed to Republican; So, they gave the majority to the Republican Party because that was the constituents they had who were very Republican…,” he contrasted.
Since 1992, when Bill Clinton won, the state has not voted for a Democratic president. For the assemblyman, a good part of Biden’s victory was due to the mobilization of organizations to boost the Latino vote in general.
“The mobilization of people outside (achieved that). I would also tell you that the four years under President Trump have to do with it. Also, people were already tired and wanted a change,” he analyzed.
But, in Marín’s opinion, Biden prevailed above all because of the element that always has the most weight: the “soldiers on the ground” (boots on the ground), in reference to the leaders of the Party knocking on doors, providing information and talking to the people. .
“I believe that this is something that leads to winning the elections. (These elections) are close, extremely close…I was named one of the 16 electors who voted for the confirmation of President Biden. For me it was an honor to have been chosen to be one of the 16 electors,” highlighted the legislator who was an essential part of Latinos for Obama and Latinos for Biden.
These types of initiatives, he said, the Democrats must reinforce in these weeks prior to the elections if they want to prevail electorally.
The power of the Puerto Rican vote
Part of the impetus for Harris’ candidacy could be in the hands of voters of Puerto Rican origin, Marín acknowledged.
In that sense, for the legislator it is key to register citizens, but above all to remove their “apathy” so that they go out to vote on November 5.
“Sometimes we Puerto Ricans are half afraid of being able to express our opinions, coming from a country where politics is what rages…The Puerto Rican voter has a little apathy in expressing those opinions because we come from a land where it is o the status quo or being a state. Here as Democrats and Republicans, we are a little moderate…I see many of the Republican Party platforms that I like and I practice them; How I like the Democratic part of helping others, social issues and everything else. So I would tell you that basically we vote; There is no coalition that I can tell you about Puerto Ricans. I know that we do countless Puerto Rican events. What I have seen is that we don’t show ourselves as much…”, described the interviewee.
Marín explained that the fact that Puerto Ricans in Georgia are distributed throughout different enclaves sometimes makes it more complicated to approach them.
“Puerto Ricans are so dispersed in the state of Georgia; including Mimi Woodson, from Columbus, Georgia, she was the first Latina in the state of Georgia. “She was elected in the city of Columbus as a councilor,” he explained.
“We are well dispersed. I have 66,000 people in my district and when I do something, I don’t do something simply for Puerto Ricans or Mexicans; I have to do something to bring our message to all these communities,” he added.
Regarding the issues that appeal to Puerto Ricans in Georgia and could motivate them to go to the polls, the economic issue is one of the most important, he considered.
“I would tell you that it is extremely important. The diaspora is extremely important. See the needs of Puerto Ricans which are the needs of the majority of every American; high prices, housing, public safety. Economic development, I believe that we are in a stable moment, that we are doing well. But I think that These are the things that come to me from many Puerto Ricans that I know in terms of what they are looking for,” the representative listed.
The debate over the status of Puerto Rico
On the issue of the status of Puerto Rico, Marín said that “there is a lot of talk about it” among members of the political class in Georgia. The focus of the discussion lies on the implications of the island becoming the 51st state.
“I would say yes, and it’s because we’ve basically been in the status quo for many years. And you ask me right now, well look, I grew up under the flag of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD); My grandparents were key factors for Luis Muñoz Marín…I was always popular in Puerto Rico. Once I arrived in the US, I have been here for 30 years, my vision has changed a little. It’s not that I have changed whether we are going to be a state or not, what has opened up to me is the reality of why we have not yet become a state, and the reality is that the US Congress does not want us to. PR becomes a state, number 1. Number 2, there are countless states that if PR becomes the 51st state it would have more political power than many states in the Union, and I would tell you that there are like 10 or 11 states that would not They have the population that PR has, therefore Puerto Rican representation in Congress would be greater than theirs,” he argued.
“Seeing the Popular Democratic Party of the status quo, I believe that we have gone from being the status quo. I believe that the Commonwealth when Luis Muñoz Marín and the alliances, industrialize Puerto Rico, we already have to change the idealism of what the status quo is,” he recommended.
“Do you favor statehood or another status formula?” this newspaper asked him directly.
“We have to see both things. There is an obstacle for PR to become a state and it will not be, because it is Congress that has that availability, and I do not see the approach of Puerto Rico becoming a state in the future. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what we’ve seen in 20, 30 years or more, that there isn’t that appetite, and especially among Republican congressmen,” he answered.
In Marín’s opinion, it is necessary to rethink and redefine the Commonwealth (ELA), Puerto Rico’s system of government under territorial status.
“We have to create a better alliance with the US; continue with the citizenship thing, with the federal programs that help Puerto Rico, and see how we, perhaps, can get rid of that part of being a colony,” he explained.
However, for the interviewee, beyond the topics that interest Puerto Ricans, it is more important to know how to transmit the message to voters or potential voters.
“The way you convey your message is also important. We cannot stop and talk for an hour and talk about the opponent, about the racism that exists, about the size of the audiences at rallies; What happened now, that Trump made a comment that Haitians are eating pets. We, as citizens, want to hear; “I’m voting for you, what are you going to do for me, for my family in these next four years, and we are hearing it more from the Kamala camp than from the Trump camp,” he added.
Growth of the Latino electorate in Georgia
“We are talking about about 12,000 (votes difference in the last elections), and Puerto Ricans are more than 100,000. In other words, based on that analysis, a very simple mathematical analysis, one can say that if Puerto Ricans go out to vote…”, El Diario stated.
“They could have the decision, right; We could decide who is going to lead us in this country for the next four years, of course,” Marín concluded.
In that sense, he highlighted the general potential of the Latino vote, which has increased substantially in recent years.
“When I ran for the first time there were about 15,000 to 20,000 Latinos registered to vote. Scroll down now to 2024, there are more than 350,000 Latinos registered to vote, and I am the founder of GALEO and we chose Mr. Jerry González as executive director. This growth in voters, basically, is due to countless organizations that are promoting the Latino vote, because GALEO was one of the first that began to promote the Latino vote? There are countless organizations that are out there constantly trying to register the Latino vote?” he noted.
Another important segment that must be attended to is that of the undecided, among whom there would be Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics.
“That’s what Trump and Kamala are doing now, trying to reach the people in the middle, people who are undecided, because if you come to see that it is a very, very large percentage of millions of people still undecided about how they are going to vote,” said Marín, who identified Trump as the candidate who hijacked the Republican Party.
“It makes me sad that the Republican Party has been kidnapped by this man, because the Republicans with their values of no taxes, small government, faith, family, pro-life. In other words, they have countless platforms that attract both sides. And it also happens in the Democratic Party that there is a very liberal segment that is trying to create strength, that division, and that is where we are wrong,” said the interviewee who defines himself as a moderate Democrat.
“And unlike the Republicans, could we say that around the figure of Kamala Harris, there is general support among Democrats? Is there no division in terms of that candidacy?” this newspaper investigated.
“I don’t think so, because even you look a lot at the strength of a candidate by the money he has collected…What that shows you, number one, is strength; and number two, the ability of you to carry your message. And we saw that Kamala is sweeping her campaign fundraising…There is an opportunity to elect our first female president, and, number two, the first Asian African American president; “It would be historic for this country,” he responded.
Marín’s story as a Puerto Rican in the diaspora
Marín came to the United States in 1992 as a result of a job transfer and began to get involved in non-profit organizations focused on the Hispanic community due to the lack of representation.
“Then I saw that there was a need in nonprofits to be able to work with that recent community. However, I did it. I became an executive director of a nonprofit organization. At that time, in 2002, there was a group of Latino friends of mine who told me that there was an open position to run for the House of Representatives; so I did it, and then I became the first Latino in history to be elected as a representative in 2003 in Georgia…So 22 years; I feel very honored to have served the state for so long. I am leaving at a high level and on my own terms, which is also important for a person who is elected…And also a promise I had to my wife to be able to retire,” said the Democrat, who was executive director of the Atlanta Mexican Center. .
Marín also expressed his pride in making way for other politicians of Hispanic origin such as Jason Esteves (Democrat) and Rey Martínez (Republican).
“In 22 years, there have been countless laws that we have passed, in all aspects, education, public safety, economic development. But I believe that my legacy was that I became a bridge between the diverse communities of Georgia and the Government, because I was the first to bring Latinos to the Capitol to be present…But, also, I was the first to I invited the community from Vietnam, in the state of Georgia, the Korean community, those from China, the Hindus, the Pakistanis. “I was the first to open that door for them to come to the Capitol, and for the legislators to see the diversity that exists in the state and for them to have a presence…” he stated.
This article is part of a series focused on the electoral power of Puerto Ricans in key states in the United States. In the next installment we talk with the spokesperson for Hispanic media for Donald Trump’s campaign about the case of Georgia and other decisive states in these elections.
Stay tuned to the Puerto Rico section in El Diario for future reports.
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