A popular Allentown radio show will be broadcast Tuesday morning from the White House, as part of a Latino outreach initiative.
Victor Martinez, owner of radio station La Mega and host of the morning show El Relajo de la Mañana, said he received an invitation to broadcast from the White House last week. The invitation came as part of the annual “Dominicans on the Hill” event, hosted by U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., which will be held Wednesday to recognize the civic engagement of Dominican Americans.
The White House will host an afternoon reception Tuesday before the event and will host Martinez’s radio show that morning, Martinez said. He hopes to interview prominent figures, including Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, but said he is still waiting for confirmation of who will be available to appear on the show.
A White House spokesperson confirmed the broadcast Monday, but provided no further details.
For Martinez, who is politically active and has run in the past as a Democrat for a seat on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners, the invitation is a good sign that the White House recognizes Pennsylvania’s growing Latino population.
“I hope to be able to talk about what the (Biden) administration has done to improve the lives of Latinos in Pennsylvania,” Martinez said.
Winning over Latino voters will be crucial if Biden wants to win the battleground state of Pennsylvania. This is particularly important in the Lehigh Valley, where the 7th Congressional District is 16 percent Latino, the second highest among Pennsylvania’s congressional districts.
For political campaigns, getting Latino voters to the polls is as much a challenge as influencing their vote. Eligible Latino voters have traditionally lagged in turnout. For example, in 2020, only 54% of eligible Latinos voted in the presidential election, compared to nearly 60% of Asian voters, 63% of Black voters and 71% of white voters, according to a study by the City University of New York.
Still, Latino voter turnout is trending up — 2020 was the first time more than half of eligible Latinos voted.
In a opinion piece published in The Morning Call Last year, Martinez said the Democratic Party needed to pay more attention to the Latino community, which is increasingly turning to Republican candidates.
“For Democrats, proactive outreach is vital,” he wrote. “Talking to Latino voters about their concerns, such as immigration reform, access to health care and economic opportunity, can help motivate them to participate in greater numbers. Ignoring or taking Latino voters for granted could cost Democrats the White House.”
Martinez’s morning show, which airs from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays, is also carried on sister radio stations in Philadelphia, Reading, Lancaster, York and Harrisburg. The talk show is primarily in Spanish, but answers callers’ questions live in English and Spanish, Martinez said.
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.
