Nicole Lopez for Congress Starts A New Generation of California Latinas Running For Office

This episode was recorded in the late summer of 2022, before the release of the recorded racist comments and frustrations on redistricting certain Latino communities in Los Angeles from  City Council President, Nury Martinez and her council colleagues, Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo. Our guest, Nicole López was running for a district-42  in the past June primaries, and the youngest Latina on the ballot to run in her District 42. She only lost by a few hundred votes. But that is not stopping her from running in 2024.  She discusses how a larger Latino community in East LA and South Central, was part of redistricting initiative after the 2020 census and why it's important for all of us to fill out the U.S Census. We discuss the impact of redistricting for voting and how she brings a new generational voice to those disenfranchised communities that are still financially impacted post Covid. Still active in her community, she saw first hand how her families own small business, Fronteras del Norte, a transportation company for farm workers who follow the seasonal work, was not contacted for PPP loans even through they are an integral part of the community. In fact, she mentioned, banks and local officials were was almost non-existent in outreach to her community and many businesses went under. Nicole is not the first young Latina to run for Congress as we share our admiration for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and recent cover feature on GQ Magazine and discuss how we can stand in our power. Although the June primaries are done, we are in the height of the mid-term voting season for November 2022 and this is not the time to be silent. There has been a lot of hurt in our communities, post pandemic and with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade in some states, putting more pressure on women of color and the LGTBQ+ community. WE have to reach out to those communities, get our facts from trusted sources and participate in this democratic process. Nicole is running for 2024 for her congressional seat and she will not be silent. To register to vote, please go to your local state online voter registration page, such as this one for California Online Voter Registration.  Gracias and please subscribe to our podcast on our YouTube Channel, Apple , Spotify  and PodChaser. Please follow us IG, Twitter and Facebook and learn more about our events and promotions at Latinasb2b.com. This podcast is produced by Theresa E. Gonzales of 5-E Leadership & Marketing LLC and audio engineered by Robert Lopez.