ABSTRACT
In the 1992 Colorado presidential race, Latino votes, for example, made an important contribution to the victory of Bill Clinton. It also appears that Latinos contributed to the close wins in the 1996 presidential races in New Mexico and Arizona. This chapter explores the measures of influence. It outlines the 1996 Texas elections, addressing the conditions under which Latinos might be an effective statewide bloc and the reasons why Latinos had limited impact on statewide campaigns in 1996. The chapter provides a brief overview of demographic indicators and a discussion of the partisan identification of Latinos. It presents a brief model of the conditions under which Latinos might be an effective statewide voting bloc. The chapter reports the events and results of the presidential, congressional, and state elections. Finally, It offers some conclusions about the future role of Latinos in Texas politics.
