Key Lessons From the 2024 Election

Kirk Whisler

I, like many Democrats, was numb this past week as election results came in, all confirming a decisive victory for former President Trump. There’s been a lot of finger-pointing, but very little toward what I see as one of the key reasons for Harris’ defeat and the losses in Congress—the people who are actually running the campaigns and determining where the BILLIONS OF CAMPAIGN DOLLARS are being spent. These campaign execs determine that we’re spending forty million here and $400,000 there and then tell the candidates, ‘Don’t worry, we’ve got that market niche covered.’ The problem lies in WHERE THE MONIES ARE SPENT, not in a lack of money.

More than a year ago, I was part of a meeting with Julie Chávez Rodríguez, when she was Campaign Chair of the Biden–Harris Campaign, and other campaign officials. The meeting was specifically on the Latino vote and how to increase it and secure it for Biden–Harris. Chávez Rodríguez and her team made key commitments on what they would do—and then NOTHING HAPPENED. Her team did NOT respond to phone calls and emails. Less than two months prior to the election, the Harris campaign did put some chump change into marketing to Latino readers, but it was too little, far too late.

These problems are NOT unique to this election cycle. For instance, if we look back to 2000, when George W. Bush was elected President, we will all remember that the election came down to Florida. The Bush campaign spent 700% MORE on Latino print ads in Florida than the Gore campaign did. In fact, in 2000, the Bush Team spent far more just in Florida than the Gore Team spent NATIONWIDE to reach Latino readers.

What Needs to Be Done
At this point, I’m fed up with the LIES AND HOLLOW PROMISES we’ve heard for decades from Democratic leaders. Right now, the internal leaders of the Democratic Party will be decided for the next four years. I’m not talking about Congress. I’m talking about the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC). These organizations spend hundreds of millions on their pet projects and then say, ‘We don’t have the money for diverse campaigns.’
Until these organizations realize that working with a community is an ongoing, continuous effort, not the spending of chump change in the last couple of weeks of a campaign, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. We also need to ensure that the Latinos sitting at those tables are actually speaking on behalf of the community, not merely filling a seat and saying to themselves, ‘on the next campaign, when I have more power, I’ll tell them what I really think.’
In 2024, Democrats spent over FIVE BILLION DOLLARS on these campaigns. By the way, Republicans only spent $4.1 billion. How much of that was spent on reaching Latino readers? On reaching Latinos overall?

Latino Readers and Why They Are Key

The recent National Latino Media Study of 10,640 Latino Readers found that there are 15.4 million active readers of Latino newspapers, magazines, websites, ePublications, and eNewsletters, representing 32% of Latino adults in the USA; 52% of these Latino Readers are Democrats and only 12% are Republicans. Most important, 36% of Latino Readers are citizens who are Independent or Undecided voters who likely ended up helping Trump. Because Latino Readers over-index at voting, it is projected that they cast 7.6 million votes, or 44% of the Latino vote nationwide. If you were able to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a national campaign, would you only spend a few hundred thousand dollars on the MOST TRUSTED media reaching 44% of your potential Latino voters? THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION.

Eight years ago, my brother Mark fell into a depression after Bernie, on whose behalf he’d worked for more than two years, was defeated, and then Hillary was ultimately defeated by Trump. His depression, combined with some health issues, led to his death at 64, less than four months later. We can NOT fall into depression. We need to identify the sources of these Democratic defeats and then make the appropriate changes within organizations like the DNC and elsewhere if we are going to change the outcomes. The Latino community MUST start holding these entities accountable for reaching and serving Latinos on a continuous basis, not for a few weeks every four years.

Kirk Whisler is Executive Editor for Hispanic Marketing 101.