EXCLUSIVE — A conservative Latino advocacy group isn’t waiting until the fall to ramp up its campaign to help Republicans perform well with Hispanic voters in November’s midterm elections.Five months before voters go to the polls, LIBRE Action, part of the center-right Koch political network, has started campaigning for Republican Senate candidates in the all-important battleground states of Ohio and North Carolina, in addition to GOP gubernatorial candidates in Florida and Wisconsin.“The Latino vote is essential in these races, which will likely be decided by razor-thin margins,” LIBRE Action senior adviser Daniel Garza told the Washington Examiner. “Conservatives made gains with Hispanics in 2024, but the Latino vote is not baked in for one side. Conservatives must continue to court them and make the case for their vote.”
LIBRE Action has endorsed Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) in his highly competitive campaign against former Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. The race is a potential pickup opportunity for Democrats as they try to flip the balance of power in the Senate.Husted and Brown are, on average, in a statistical tie, according to polling aggregator RealClearPolitics. Latinos could be the key voting bloc, as they represented 3% of all registered voters in Ohio in 2024.“Ohio’s Latino community is growing, and families across the state are looking for leaders who will expand opportunity and create an environment where hard work is rewarded,” Lair Marin-Marcum, a LIBRE Action adviser in Ohio, told the Washington Examiner.Marin-Marcum said LIBRE Action’s campaign strategy in Ohio and elsewhere included a combination of community events, grassroots outreach, and voter education initiatives to “ensure Latino voters understand what is at stake in the upcoming election,” as well as amplify a message of how Republicans can help Latinos “achieve the American dream.”LIBRE Action’s other endorsed Senate candidate, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, is polling behind onetime North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper by an average of 7 percentage points, outside most surveys’ margins of error.Latinos represented 6% of all registered voters in North Carolina in 2024.LIBRE Action has also endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) for governor in Florida and Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) for the same position in Wisconsin. An offshoot of LIBRE is already running a Spanish-language YouTube ad for Tiffany.
