RFK Jr.'s Latino outreach: Mariachi, religion and a Trumpian ex-LA sheriff
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Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is courting Latino voters, and he’s enlisting the help of ex-Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva, whose pugilistic style has been compared to Donald Trump.
Villanueva will join Kennedy at a Cesar Chavez Day event in Los Angeles next weekend, where the political scion will highlight his family’s historic ties to Chavez, the legendary farmworker organizer.
Robert Kennedy Sr.’s prominent support of Chavez and his cause forged an enduring bond with Latinos in California. The younger Kennedy is touting that history, with his campaign noting in a press release Thursday that he had been a pallbearer at Chavez’s funeral. The event will serve as the launch for a “Viva Kennedy 24” campaign aimed at Latino voters, which includes a Spanish-language website.
But Kennedy's choice of special guests is a striking addition to an otherwise conventional outreach event. Villanueva, the first Spanish-speaking sheriff to be elected to the position in over a century, was ousted after one term in 2022 as once-supportive Democrats soured on him.
The former sheriff presided over a scandal-plagued department and clashed with elected officials — including raiding a Democratic county supervisor's home. He endeared himself to conservative figures like Tucker Carlson by embracing Republican rhetoric.
Villanueva was a vocal opponent of Covid-19 vaccine mandates, aligning him with Kennedy's longstanding critique of vaccination requirements like the one California passed in 2015. The Kennedy-Villanueva bond goes both ways. Kennedy endorsed Villanueva's failed challenge to Los Angeles Supervisor Janice Hahn.
California and Los Angeles are both home to huge blocs of Latino voters. Villanueva in 2022 sought to appeal to Latinos by cutting an ad in a church that showed him kneeling in prayer. Kennedy’s event will feature Bishop Juan Carlos Mendez, a southern California religious leader, and the mariachi group Las Colibrí.
Kennedy was not on the primary ballot in California, whose voting rules require independent presidential candidates to gather hundreds of thousands of signatures to be eligible. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom — whose political hero is Robert Kennedy Sr. — has been a key surrogate for President Joe Biden.
CORRECTION: The headline of this report has been updated to reflect Bishop Juan Carlos Mendez’s religious affiliation.
