In the news

“A few years ago a Latino state senator, Gil Cedillo, tried to run in a plurality Hispanic district against an Asian candidate, Judy Chu, but the Democratic establishment – including many of the state’s prominent Latinos, backed Chu,” explains political scientist Stephen Nuño.

Opinion: Obama’s Hollywood stars versus Romney’s GOP Latino firepower

My latest post on NBCLatino.

Believe it or not, Mitt Romney does have a campaign strategy available to him that includes Latinos, except it would look significantly different from the strategy emerging out of President Obama’s campaign.

While the President will be relying mostly on Latino star power with household names like Shakira, Marc Anthony and Eva Longoria, Mitt Romney will need to depend on Latino firepower with names like Marco Rubio, Susana Martinez and Brian Sandoval.

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Ted Cruz will have to pray hard to win TX Senate seat

“Texas is indeed like its own nation. The only question now is if Cruz can convince Texans that the Texas Dewhurst helped build has lost its religion.”

In the News

Stephen Nuño, a professor of political science at Northern Arizona University, explains that “George Lopez is well liked and widely recognized, as is Eva Longoria. President Obama’s immigration policy does present problems, but Latinos like Lopez and Longoria are sure to follow the Democrat’s messaging, blaming Republican intransigence on the issue.”

“It’s not only convenient to take advantage of current partisan loyalties, but it’s also largely true. “

GOP needs Rubio to be nice to Latinos

That complicates the issue for folks like Rubio. On the one hand, he is being asked to get the Latino vote, while on the other hand, he must maintain ideological purity with its Leave it to Beaver nostalgic base.

The Republican Dreamless Act, the best deal in town

One of the more demoralizing observations about the immigration debate is the fact that we have an immigration system that has worked relatively well over the last three decades.

It’s a difficult fact to confront, and not a very easy claim to make as a professor who studies Latino politics. But it’s a simple statement to support if you only think about who benefits most from our current immigration system.

In the News

Stephen Nuño, a political scientist writing a book on Republican Latino outreach and an NBC Latino contributor, says Santorum’s “faith and hope may be emotionally gratifying, but at the end of the day, you need to deliver voters to win an election.”

“Santorum’s campaign has been running on fumes and prayers for a long time now,” Nuño adds.

In the News

“So he took a bite out of the tamale with the husk still on it,” Nuño said. “And of course that doesn’t look good, it doesn’t taste good, and it only shows just how distant President Ford was to the Hispanic culture.”

In the News

“For Romney to win Arizona pretty much solidifies his anti-immigration stance,” he said. “If you can convince Arizona that you’re anti-immigrant, I don’t know what other argument you need.”