Wisconsin
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A study by the Pew Research Center found that 36.2 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in 2024, up 4 million from the 2020 election. This makes Latino voters one of the most critical voting blocs, leading both Democrats and Republicans to ramp up their efforts to tap into such potential support. In Nevada, Latinos are projected to be crucial in both the presidential race and the contest for the state’s other Senate seat, pitting incumbent Jacky Rosen (D) and against Republican Sam Brown. Ads from both parties populate platforms like YouTube — one of the three most used apps by Hispanics — trying to win over the Latino voter bloc.
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What these ads, as well as the political machine, seem to miss is that Latinos are not a monolithic group. This can lead politicians to miss out on the many different factors that shape Latino identities. Voter tendencies can vary significantly between different Latino groups — and even within Latino families.
A multigenerational perspective
Rico Cortez is a Mexican American living in northern Nevada. He was raised by a single mother, Rebecca Guerrero, and his Latino roots, along with growing up with a strong matriarch, have shaped his political views. “Women’s rights are super important to me because women raised me. Women brought me into this world,” Cortez stated.
Latinos tend to put a larger emphasis on family than that of non-Hispanics. According to the Pew Research Center,84 percent of Latinos believe that family members are more important than friends. Cortez moved back to northern Nevada five years ago to care for his aging mother because his connection to his family is so important.
Rebecca Guerrero was born in Verdi, Nev., in 1929, making her 95 years old. Despite her age, she is still civically engaged and has consistently voted throughout her lifetime. For her, it was important to pass on this civic duty to her children. Her political identity has shaped Cortez, and today, both Guerrero and Cortez represent a unique part of the Latino vote in Nevada.
As a young mother, Guerrero struggled with the cost of living in Nevada. “Well, it was no picnic. It was rough because the man that I was married to didn’t care too much. And we had to go on welfare to get my kids what they needed,” she remembers. Rising rent prices, inflation and increasing the minimum wage have become increasingly important to Guerrero and her family.
This falls in line with the priorities of other Latino in Nevada. In the state with the largest Latino middle class, the cost of living is one of the most significant issues for many Latino voters. Eighty-four percent of Latinos in Nevada agree that it is difficult for middle-class families to prosper in the United States. Republicans — like GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo — have capitalized on this by touting their ability to do things like loosen requirements for business licenses in the state and tighten immigration laws to save jobs.
Immigration is another critical issue for Latinos in Nevada, and Guerrero has her own immigration story. At 10 years old, she had to leave her dying grandfather in Durango, Mexico, to travel to live with her aunts in California. Leaving him behind was hard for her., “I had to kneel and have my grandfather do the sign of the cross and bless me. Then I crossed, he stayed on that side, and I came to this side,” she says.
While some Republicans have used immigration as a selling point to Latino voters, the Trump campaign has pushed anti-immigration rhetoric and massive amounts of disinformation, leaving some voters, like Guerrero, upset; when asked about Trump, she stated, “If you don’t have a good president, well, everything goes to pot. If we get Trump, well, Trump is an asswipe.”
According to aUnivision poll, Latino voters in Nevada favor Kamala Harris by 18 points. While both Guerrero and Cortez will be voting for Harris in November, 41 percent of Latino voters are undecided. Issues like abortion and border security are making some lean toward the former president.
Abortion is one of the most significant issues for Cortez in this election cycle. He sees reproductive rights as an essential part of supporting women, “I’ve just always been an advocate for women. I don’t want to see my little nieces having to fight for things that my mother already fought for.”
For Guerrero, abortion has been a bit of a gray area. She comes from a strong Catholic background. Catholic doctrine opposes abortion. And withCatholicism being the largestfaith amongst Latinos, it can sway values and belief systems. While Guerrero is still very religious, time and conversations with her son eventually led her to support a woman’s right to choose. Cortez and Guerrero are among the 44 percent of Nevadan Latinos who say they will vote “yes” on a ballot measure that would establish the right to abortion in the Nevadan Constitution.
The issue of abortion reflects how Latino viewpoints can differ significantly depending on factors such as age, religion and party affiliation. While the Latino vote will be crucial in Nevada and across the nation in November, it is not monolithic, and many different cultures and life experiences shape the identities and values of Latinos in the Silver State.
Regardless of the differences, Cortez is proud to be Latino and is excited to see how important the Latino vote has become in Nevada. He celebrates the sense of community he feels being Mexican American: “I love that sense of community. I think we have a strong sense of community, and we care for each other and look after each other.”
In the weeks leading to Election Day, The Fulcrum will continue to publish stories from across the country featuring the people who make up the powerful Latino electorate to better understand the hopes and concerns of an often misunderstood, diverse community.
What do you think about this article? We’d like to hear from you. Please send your questions, comments, and ideas to newsroom@fulcrum.us.
MILWAUKEE – The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for portions of southeast Wisconsin. It takes effect Thursday night and runs through Friday morning.
The watch covers Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties. Heavy snow will be possible, as much as 6 inches or more in some areas.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX6 News app
FOX Weather app
What is the FOX Model?
What is the FOX Model?
FOX Weather Expert Tom Wachs explains the value of the FOX Model for our team — and our viewers.
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Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Community members in Wisconsin continued to wrestle with grief and called for change in the aftermath of a school shooting that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others.
Several hundred people gathered outside the Wisconsin State Capitol for a vigil Tuesday night to honor those slain at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison the day before, with some passing candles to each other and standing close against the winter chill.
Among those in attendance was Naomi Allen, 16, who was in a nearby classroom Monday when a 15-year-old girl attacked people in a study hall before fatally shooting herself.
“It’s doesn’t matter who you are or where you are, something like this could happen. There’s nothing that is going to exempt someone,” Allen said at the vigil.
Allen’s father, Jay Allen, reflected on the dangers students face these days.
“When I was in school these things never happened,” he said. “This country at some point needs to take mental health seriously and we need to pour resources into it. We really need some changes in the way we handle that issue.”
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
The motive for the shooting appears to be a “combination of factors,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said Tuesday as he appealed to the public to call in to a tip line and share what they might know about the shooter.
He offered no details about what that motive might be, though he said bullying at Abundant Life Christian School would be investigated. He also said police are investigating writings that may have been penned by the shooter, Natalie Rupnow, and could shed light on her actions.
“Identifying a motive is our top priority, but at this time it appears that the motive is a combination of factors,” Barnes told reporters.
Two students among the six people wounded Monday remain in critical condition. Officials have declined to disclose the names of the victims.
“Leave them alone,” Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said.
The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.
The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.
School shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in U.S. history, with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the majority of them, said David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school — prekindergarten through high school — with approximately 420 students. Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations, said the school does not have metal detectors but uses cameras and other security measures.
Barnes said police were talking with the shooter’s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching the shooter’s home.
The shooter’s parents, who are divorced, jointly shared custody of their child, but the shooter primarily lived with her 42-year-old father, according to court documents.
Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Supporters hold candles during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, outside the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis., following a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School on Monday, Dec. 16. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Madison resident Cristian Cuahutepitzi said he attended Tuesday’s vigil to let the families of the victims know “we’re thinking of them.” He said his uncle’s two daughters go to the school.
“They’re still a little bit shook,” he said.
Joe Gothard, the superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District, said at the vigil that the tragedy happened less than two blocks away from his childhood home. He said it wasn’t enough to say the district would work on safety.
“We need to connect like we are tonight, each and every day and make a commitment that we know we’re there for one another, hopefully to avoid preventable tragedies like yesterday,” he said.
A prayer service was also held Tuesday night at City Church Madison, which is affiliated with the school
Several teachers from the school prayed aloud one by one during the service, speaking into a microphone and standing in a line. One middle school teacher asked for courage, while another sought help quieting her own soul.
“God, this isn’t a Abundant Life Christian School tragedy,” said Derrick Wright, the youth pastor at the church. “This is a community tragedy. This is a nation tragedy.”
___
Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Ed White, Josh Funk, Hallie Golden and Ryan Foley and photographer Morry Gash contributed to this report.
A Wisconsin woman who practiced midwifery without a license for more than a decade has been referred to prosecutors for potential criminal investigation, Brown County District Attorney David Lasee confirmed Tuesday.
Heather Baker, a 49-year old De Pere woman, marketed herself as a “traditional midwife” and traveled across the U.S. and Mexico to assist women with home births – despite being told to stop by Wisconsin’s licensing agency in 2014.
As first reported by the Journal Sentinel and Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services opened an investigation into Baker after 10 complaints were filed against her during a two-month span this summer.
Several of the complaints suggest Baker’s practices may violate state regulations governing licensed midwives and standards of care accepted nationally by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Those practices include using drugs to delay or induce labor, discouraging ultrasounds and other prenatal care, and failing to transfer mothers to the hospital in potentially dangerous situations, according to the complaints.
Baker did not respond to a request for comment.
Department of Safety and Professional Services spokesperson John Beard declined comment other than to say the department’s investigation is ongoing.
The complaints being investigated by the agency span incidents in Florida, Rhode Island and Mexico, including one regarding the death of Jennifer Nosek’s baby during her home birth in Sayulita, Mexico.
Nosek and her husband Rene Lemos, whose son was stillborn in April, are pursuing a case of criminal negligence against Baker in Mexico.
The couple allege in the lawsuit that “Baker’s negligent process as a pseudo-midwife” led several mothers to experience complications in their births due to the use of misoprostol — a drug used to treat postpartum hemorrhaging, and in some cases, to induce labor.
A group of mothers in Mexico who filed complaints with Wisconsin regulators and helped gather evidence for Nosek’s lawsuit released a statement in response to Baker’s referral for potential criminal investigation.
“Our hope is that the irreparable damage she has caused can be brought to light, accountability can be sought through the justice system and more objective information about her services will become apparent in hope that future families are saved from the traumatic and tragic outcomes others have experienced at her hands,” the statement read.
Alyssa N. Salcedo is a data and investigative journalist pursuing her master’s in journalism at DePaul University. She can be reached at asalced4@depaul.edu.
Jessica Van Egeren of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this article.
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