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In Milwaukee, Latinos fed up with crime weigh GOP appeal

Diego Rebollar and Andreina Patilliet canvas a Hispanic neighborhood with Republican literature in Milwaukee, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Diego Rebollar talks to Noah Ledezma as he distributes Republican literature in a Hispanic neighborhood in Milwaukee, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Pastor Marty Calderon stands in a local Republican election office in Milwaukee, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. In two decades of street outreach on Milwaukee’s south side, Calderon has offered Bible study, gang prevention, a safe place to stay for those battling addiction, and help getting jobs for those newly released from prison. But as he’s watched rising crime threaten those efforts to “clean up” his impoverished neighborhood, Calderon started bringing Republican politicians to his ministry, God Touch. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson speaks as Pastor Marty Calderon watches at a local Republican election office in Milwaukee, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. A month before the midterms, Johnson was talking about the importance of “renewed faith” as he met with Calderon and other community leaders in the Republican National Committee’s one-year-old Hispanic outreach center, two blocks from God Touch. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Diego Rebollar and Andreina Patilliet canvas a Hispanic neighborhood with Republican literature in Milwaukee, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. The historic lack of outreach to the Latino community leaves Hispanic voters to “bundle” their own issues, often based on faith, instead of buying into an “ideological package” from either party, said Ali Valenzuela, an American University professor of Latino politics. That can benefit Republicans when the focus is on the economy, as in these midterms. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Diego Rebollar and Andreina Patilliet canvas a Hispanic neighborhood with Republican literature in Milwaukee, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. “Folks on the ground hear, ‘No one ever reached out to us before’ or ‘I didn’t expect Republicans to reach out to us,’” says Ana Carbonell, a consultant for Hispanic outreach with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which launched Vamos efforts this midterm season in nine key states, including Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Pastor Marty Calderon greets Rep. Brian Steil, R-Wis., at a local Republican election office in Milwaukee, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. In a late September poll by the Pew Research Center, more Latinos said they felt that the Democratic Party “works hard to earn Latinos’ vote” and “cares about Latinos” than the Republican Party. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Pastor Marty Calderon greets Rep. Brian Steil, R-Wis., at a local Republican election office in Milwaukee, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Wisconsin’s elections commission doesn’t collect race or ethnicity data, but the immigrant rights advocacy group Voces de la Frontera estimates there are about 180,000 voters among the state’s Hispanics, nearly 40% of whom live in Milwaukee. Most are of Mexican origin, followed by Puerto Ricans. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Pastor Marty Calderon talks on the phone outside at a local Republican election office in Milwaukee, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. “We’ve never had the Republicans come as strong as they are. … I’m very cautious doing this because I just don’t want people thinking they’re going to come get a vote,” Calderon says, adding that he doesn’t push specific candidates on his community. “I’m just saying go out and vote, and pray about it.” (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson and Pastor Marty Calderon talk outside God Touch church in Milwaukee, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Swinging even a few thousand votes in a state like Wisconsin – which delivered minuscule margins for Trump in 2016 and for Biden in 2020 – could impact national politics because GOP Senate candidate Johnson is in a close re-election race with Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson and Pastor Marty Calderon talk at a local Republican election office in Milwaukee, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Republican candidates across the country are seeking to expand recent gains the party has made with Hispanic voters from Florida to the Rio Grande Valley to Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson and Pastor Marty Calderon shake hands at a local Republican election office in Milwaukee, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. In two decades of street outreach on Milwaukee’s south side, Calderon has offered Bible study, gang prevention, a safe place to stay for those battling addiction, and help getting jobs for those newly released from prison. But as he’s watched rising crime threaten those efforts to “clean up” his impoverished neighborhood, Calderon started bringing Republican politicians to his ministry, God Touch. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)