MISSION & VISION

The Latino Victory Project, co-founded by Eva Longoria and Henry R. Muñoz III, is an ambitious, non-partisan effort to build political power within the Latino community to ensure the voices of Latinos are reflected at every level of government and in the policies that drive our nation forward. The Latino Victory Project develops leaders for public office while building a permanent base of Latino donors to support them. Partnering with leading organizations, it shapes public policy that reflects the growing influence of the Latino community while also building cross-constituency alliances that can move the country forward.

MISSION
The Latino Victory Project is a movement that builds power in the Latino community so that the faces and voices of Latinos are reflected at every level of government and in the policies that drive our country forward.

The Latino Victory Project helps Latinos win election to local, state and federal offices, and advocates on behalf of the Latino community. The Latino Victory Project does this by developing a pipeline of Latino leaders, training and support of candidates, and by building a public narrative on Latino values and influence.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
The 2012 Presidential Election marked a milestone for Latino political participation. Latinos turned out in record numbers and flexed their financial muscle through the incredible success of the Futuro Fund. For the first time ever, Latino donors became deeply engaged in a presidential election through The Futuro Fund, raising $32M from 150,000 individual Latino donors. As a result of this dramatic increase in political participation, immigration reform is now being fiercely debated in Congress and Latino issues have been elevated in the national narrative.

Yet, while a record 11.2 million Latinos voted during the 2012 Presidential election, comprising 8.4 percent of all votes cast across the country, 12.1 million Latinos eligible to vote stayed home on Election Day. Of those, 9.6 million were not registered to vote.

This disparity in Latino political participation is one reason for the dearth of Latino elected officials. While the Latino population grows, the number of Latinos elected to public office remains dangerously low. In the current Congress, only 28 members of the House are Latino when more than twice that number would be reflective of their share of the national population. The statistics are worse in many legislative bodies across the nation.

The lack of Latinos running for office further discourages political participation in the Latino community: when you don’t see people on the ballot that reflect your community, you are less likely to vote. It is this glaring disparity in political power and representation that led visionaries Henry Muñoz and Eva Longoria to the creation of the Latino Victory Project, an ambitious, non-partisan effort to build political power so that the faces and voices of Latinos are reflected at every level of government and in the policies that drive our country forward.

THE SOLUTION
The Latino Victory Project will engage Latino voters and Latino donors—in addition to developing Latino leaders—in order to elevate and advance Latino values. By closing the civic and leadership gap, we can help change the face of this country’s politics and position our nation for positive long-term policy change. For example, when it comes to the environment, no other demographic group scores as high as Latinos, especially on clean air and water. But with such little Latino representation in government and thus in policy development, this voice for a clean environment is silenced. The same is true for other American values, such as access to healthcare, an ample education, an inclusive and vibrant economy, and a strong and effective government.