Politics

NCLR Message to Political Parties: Engage Latino Voters

By Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez / Senior Field Correspondent

Published February 8, 2012 at 8:47 AM PST

This story was published more than 12 years ago.

Janet Murguía, National Council of La Raza CEO

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) was founded in Arizona. Latino community leaders and legislators from across the country gathered in Phoenix in 1968 to address the issues impacting Latinos.

This weekend, the NCLR executive board is meeting in Phoenix to review their strategic plans for 2012. Their top priority is galvanizing Latino voters.

NCLR CEO Janet Murguía says both political parties need to begin to value the Latino vote. “They do take the Latino community for granted, assuming that we have not other alternatives. They may be right but it’s not a smart strategy they should continue to seek to nurture and engage the Latino community because we will be an even more important part of the electorate.”

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Murguía says an immediate concern is the potential loss of the low income tax credit being discussed in Congress. She says the loss of such a benefit would hurt a large number of low-income Latino families.

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Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez

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Nadine is a Senior Field Correspondent (Phoenix) who focuses on stories throughout the southwest and issues that directly affect Arizona’s Latino community. She is an Emmy-nominated journalist and a Telly Award winner. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism and earned a Masters in Education from Northern Arizona University. She comes from a lengthy background in communications. Her broadcasting career includes Arizona’s PBS station KAET-TV. She was a producer and correspondent for the public affairs programs Horizon and Horizonte. While in Chicago, she hosted on-air bilingual pledge drives for WTTW Channel 11 (PBS), making her the only bilingual pledge host at the time. She was a general assignment reporter for Tribune Company’s ChicagoLand Television News, Univision affiliate WCIU-TV Channel 26 and WYCC-TV. She also worked for Comiskey Park (now U.S. Cellular Field), the home of the Chicago White Sox and United Center (Chicago Bulls) Scoreboard Operations. She co-produced a bilingual television parenting program on both Chicago’s Telemundo and WYCC-TV Channel 20. Aside from her broadcasting career, she served in various roles in public relations, community outreach, and marketing. Her extensive public sector experience extends to several departments of the City of Chicago, Mayor’s Advisory Council on Latino Affairs, and the U.S. Congress. Other professional experience includes Vice President of Community Outreach for the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. Currently, she mentors and teaches public radio writing and reporting to inner city students and participates in journalism workshops for high school students throughout the Phoenix area. Her goal is to teach journalism in a higher education institution, while continuing her mentorship initiative. She was born in Puerto Rico to Puerto Rican and Belgian parents, and raised on Chicago’s southside in La Villita (a predominantly Mexican community). This diverse background taught her valuable lessons in various Latino cultures and informs her insight into issues of great interest to Latino families and business community.

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