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Republicans eye Latino-majority districts

Republicans know Hispanic voters are key to their political playbook.

So in a bid to win more toss-up districts this November they're investing heavily on the ground in areas where they've traditionally had less of a presence.

Former President Trump made inroads with Hispanic voters in Florida and Texas in 2020, and Republicans point to that shift in party affiliation as they pour money into battleground states where the demographic is growing.

"Democrats have taken [these states] for granted," Danielle Alvarez, communications director for the Republican National Committee (RNC), said. "We're going to be present."

They released a slew of Spanish-language ads last week in states where Hispanic voters were key to President Biden's 2020 victory, including in Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.

And they've been opening community centers to reach out to voters of color — 30 to date. Those include 12 Hispanic community centers: four in Texas, two in Florida and one each in Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

"It is a place where we can have two-way conversations," Jaime Florez, the RNC's Hispanic communications director told NotedDC. "We can listen to our community to tell us how they think our party could be doing better things for them."

Republicans are banking on Biden's economic woes to shift voters this cycle and in 2024, with current polls suggesting that Hispanic voters view Biden less favorably than they did in 2020.

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DEMOCRATS KEY IN ON ABORTION AND GUN SAFETY

But Chuck Rocha, a Democratic operative, told NotedDC there isn't a wholesale shift to the GOP, but rather finally a fight between the parties. Essentially, Republicans are investing in areas Democrats have traditionally had to themselves, he said.

"Democrats still won the vote overwhelmingly in most places [in 2020] but you saw an erosion of support going to Republicans because they were now competing for the vote," Rocha said.

Still, Rocha said that Democrats still shouldn't be naive to think that it will be an easy feat to keep control of the House, especially when Republicans are on offense about inflation, an issue polls typically rank as a first or second priority for Hispanic voters.

"Democrats aren't good at fighting," Rocha said. "Republicans are brilliant at laying blame and creating narratives that aren't true because they know Democrats aren't going to fight back aggressively."

Democrats hope that abortion rights and gun safety are issues that will drive Hispanic voters to the polls in November, especially younger voters who are less socially conservative.

An Ispos/Axios poll released at the end of June found that gun violence and crime passed inflation as Hispanic voter's top issue. And a poll by Future Majority found that Hispanics in battleground states overwhelmingly support access to abortions.

"Our job is to take that anger and use it to mobilize and engage people to go out," Gilberto Hinojosa, the chair of the Texas Democrats, said.

Historically, Hispanic voters have been pinned as socially conservative, but Democratic strategist Maria Cardona said Democrats should focus on the generational shift in the demographic, emphasizing that they need to pay attention to young voters.

"Young people, especially, are a lot more focused and driven on reproductive rights," Cardona said. "Democrats need to spend the time, the money and the resources."

A BELLWETHER OR A FLUKE?

Republicans had a win to point to last month when Mayra Flores flipped Rep. Filomen Vela's seat in June in South Texas, a Hispanic-majority area where both parties have invested heavily in the past few election cycles.

They held up the special election as another sign Hispanic voters are shifting toward the GOP and hope her victory will be the first of many.

But Gilberto Hinojosa, the chair of the Texas Democrats, attributed Republicans' win to the special election being held a week after the primaries, with only 28,990 votes being casted compared to around 200,000 in the 2020 general election for the same seat. Democrats also invested little in the race until the week before the vote.

"I don't think anybody can make a claim that based upon that, somehow Republicans lead in South Texas," Hinojosa said.

Jan. 6 committee to hear from key witness

The Jan. 6 House committee is preparing to hear more potential bombshell testimony, this time from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone on Friday behind closed doors.

Cipollone's testimony is expected to be significant. He advised former President Trump during the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election and in the lead up to the attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

He's been thought of as one of the missing pieces to the puzzle, only appearing before the committee for an informal interview. But after Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Mark Meadows, testified last week that Cipollone told Meadows on Jan. 6 that "something needs to be done or people are going to die," his testimony was seen as all but necessary.

"Where the committee has cast Meadows as a servile Trump loyalist, they've made clear they see Cipollone as being one of the few inner-circle figures to protest the president's bellicose plans for Jan. 6, including his persistent intention to march with his supporters to the Capitol that day," our colleagues Rebecca Beitsch, Mike Lillis and Brett Samuels write.

His testimony may give more insight into how legal advisers stopped Trump from firing his acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and replacing him with Jeffrey Clark, a lawyer willing to advance Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud.
It also might shed light on how Cipollone attempted to strike parts of Trump's speech he gave at the Capitol on Jan. 6, with Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) saying before that the committee views Cipollone's actions as trying to "do what was right."

What else we're reading: "Secret Service denial of Hutchinson story fuels attacks from both sides."

BIDEN FACES INCREASING PRESSURE TO ACT ON ABORTION

The Women's March is heading to the White House this Saturday to put pressure on the Biden administration to protect abortion rights.

"Women's March members and protestors will risk arrest to get our message over to President Biden: protect abortion," they said in a statement.

The sit-in at the White House will begin at noon. Read more from our colleague Joseph Choi.

Red flag laws under scrutiny

The July Fourth shooting in a suburb of Chicago is shedding light on loopholes in red flag laws after Congress just passed a bill with $750 million in incentives for more states to pass them.

The 21-year-old man who is accused of killing seven people at the parade slipped past Illinois' red flag laws, otherwise known as extreme risk protection orders that remove guns from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.

Our colleague Alex Gangitano reports that their effectiveness depends on how states implement them, with some experts arguing they would be more powerful if it were a law at the federal level.

Democrats and gun safety advocates will likely put more pressure on President Biden and Congress to pass more aggressive measures, like an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.

House Democrats are already showing signs they will continue to focus on gun safety ahead of midterms. On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Reform Committee requested testimony from the executives at three major gun manufacturers.

DULLES AIRPORT REVAMP

The Dulles International Airport will get an upgrade thanks to the Department of Transportation.

The airport will use the $49.6 million grant from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to help build a new 14-gate concourse to replace the existing temporary one.

Our colleague Alex Gangitano reports that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he thinks the $1 billion in grants to 85 airports will help improve passengers' experiences.

Still looming: Buttigieg is still facing pressure to fine airlines amid an uptick in flight cancellations and delays as summer travel heats up.

Larry the Cat steals the show

Boris Johnson's much-anticipated resignation announcement got a surprise star: Larry the Cat, the chief mouser at 10 Downing Street, got a prime perch in front of the awaiting cameras.

The brown and white tabby, who has been living in the executive office for more than a decade, sat on the stoop outside the front door while various Tories were interviewed on the BBC and other networks.

During one of those interviews, the BBC camera operator knew what people wanted and slowly zoomed in on the cat, rather than the interview subjects.

At another point, a heckler could be heard yelling out "Are you asking him to resign, Larry?"

Larry stays at the executive office regardless of who the prime minister is, so the embattled Johnson's resignation will have no impact on his residency.

Biden awards first Medals of Freedom

President Biden recognized "an extraordinary, extraordinary group of Americans" during his first Medal of Freedom ceremony as president Thursday.

"This is America," Biden said during the ceremony at the White House.

The Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor and recognizes people who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

Actor Denzel Washington wasn't able to make it to the event after testing positive for COVID-19, but Biden said he plans to give the Oscar winner his medal at a later date at the White House.

Among the others awarded:

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, who is also an advocate for sexual assault survivors, the foster care system and athletes' mental health.
Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) co-founded Giffords, a nonprofit organization dedicated to gun violence prevention after she suffered a near-fatal attempted assassination.
Civil rights attorney Fred Gray represented Rosa Parks, the NAACP and the Rev. Martin Luther King, who called him "the chief counsel for the protest movement."
Khizr Khan, a Gold Star father and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center, is a prominent advocate for religious freedom.
Nurse Sandra Lindsay, the first American to receive a COVID-19 vaccine outside of clinical trials, served on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic response in New York.
Late Sen. John McCain (posthumous) (R-Ariz.) was a Purple Heart recipient with a gold star for his service in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam. He was the Republican nominee for president in 2008. McCain's widow, Cindy McCain, accepted the medal on his behalf.
Civil rights leader Diane Nash worked closely with the Rev. Martin Luther King, who described her as the "driving spirit in the nonviolent assault on segregation at lunch counters."
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time Women's World Cup champion. She is a noted advocate for gender pay equality and LGBTQI+ rights.