CHICAGO.- The Libre Initiative recently announced its 2024 endorsements: it is backing at least four Republican congressional candidates in large Latino districts.
Libre Initiative is a conservative nonprofit advocacy group in Arlington, Virginia, with ties to the Koch brothers, according to The Hill. The Koch brothers are political donors headed by billionaire Charles Koch, who has historically backed Republican candidates. According to Reuters, the group is currently spending over $70 million to stop Donald Trump from clinching the presidency for a second term.
For the 2024 election, Libre Initiative is endorsing U.S. Representatives Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Monica De La Cruz (R-TX). The group is also backing Senate candidate Sam Brown (R-NV).
"These policy champions know that the path to prosperity is paved by the people," said Libre Initiative when announcing its endorsements.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 Exciting endorsements for Congress from @libre_action:@RepMariaSalazar, FL-27@RepCiscomani, AZ-6@RepMonicaDLC, TX-5@CaptainSamBrown, Sen-NV
— The LIBRE Initiative (@LIBREinitiative) December 4, 2023
These policy champions know that the path to prosperity is paved by the people.
Read more here: https://t.co/ZJf9RtfFn5
The group's endorsements target areas where Latino voters play a significant role in electing candidates and in which Democrats and President Joe Biden have seen their support diminish.
For instance, Arizona, where Juan Ciscomani is seeking reelection, is likely to be a battleground state. The state flipped to the Democrats in 2020 thanks to a surge of Latino voters, but recently Biden and the Democratic Party have been losing ground there. .
As for Brown, he is running in a statewide election in Nevada, which was one of the closest races during the 2020 election. Biden won the state by 2.4 percentage points, considering that Latinos made up 20 percent of all eligible voters back then, they are able to tip the scale either way.
Reps. Salazar and De La Cruz are running in districts that are 71.5% and 81.9% Hispanic, respectively, according to Data USA. According to The Hill, wins in their respective districts would ensure GOP influence in areas where congressional elections have been close.
Salazar, a former TV journalist for Telemundo, won her previous election by over 14 percentage points; however, her district is in Miami-Dade County, which went in favor of Democrats in the 2020 election by seven percentage points.
De La Cruz's 2022 election was closer, as she edged past her Democratic rival by 8.5 percentage points. Her district runs along part of the U.S.-Mexico border and includes counties such as Hidalgo County, which favored the Democrats in 2020.
"LIBRE Action is proud to endorse these policy champions and we look forward to mobilizing the full force of our grassroots capabilities in support of these candidates," Libre Initiative told The Hill about its endorsements.
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