Area Minorities Try to Expand Political Power, Involvement

Candidates Seek Support Of Growing Ethnic Groups

Inside what was once a segregated two-room schoolhouse on East Randolph Road, black, Latino, Asian and African leaders held hands, lowered their heads and vowed to join forces for the first time to increase minority participation in Maryland's upcoming elections.

"Communities of color are watching and mobilizing," Henry Hailstock, president of the Montgomery County chapter of the NAACP, said recently as the leaders signed a unity pledge and circulated a calendar of voter drives at churches and supermarkets.

Since the 2000 election cycle, nearly all of Maryland's population growth has been among blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Leaders of those communities are trying to turn those numbers into political clout, and candidates -- from those in county executive contests to those in the race for governor -- are responding by courting them for endorsements and campaign cash.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) raised $60,000 one night this spring at the home of a Korean American business owner in Howard County. Another fundraiser is planned with Asian leaders in Montgomery. Ehrlich's rival, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D), is creating a Spanish version of his Web site and preparing to roll out Amigos de O'Malley, a group of Latino supporters in Prince George's and Montgomery counties.

The leaders of these diverse groups say they are motivated by the national debate over immigration and the renewal of the Voting Rights Act in Congress, but their efforts could have repercussions at the local and state level, including in the Sept. 12 primaries in Maryland and the District.

In the District, Hispanic organizations have dipped into the city's political process for the first time, pressing their issues with candidates in the mayoral and D.C. Council races, turning out 350 people for a debate and forming a political action committee that has endorsed council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4) for mayor.

For too long, "the city has not incorporated Hispanics into its agenda," said Eugenio Arene, executive director of the Council of Latino Agencies, an umbrella group of multicultural nonprofit groups.

In Virginia, ethnic groups say they are trying to boost participation as the November election nears. The Democratic Latino Organization of Virginia held a forum in Arlington County last week featuring local politicians and others, said state Secretary Sindy Benavides. The organization is planning voter registration drives and other efforts from Northern Virginia to Galax, near the Tennessee border.

Next Saturday, Fairfax County Republicans will hold what they bill as an "ethnic rally" that is expected to draw Sen. George Allen and Northern Virginia's two GOP members of Congress, Reps. Frank R. Wolf and Thomas M. Davis III.

The event comes as state Republican leaders try to gauge the fallout from remarks Allen made last month to a Fairfax County native of Indian descent. At a rally in southwest Virginia, Allen referred to S.R. Sidarth, a campaign worker for opponent James Webb (D), as a "macaca" and urged the crowd to welcome him to "America and the real world of Virginia." Allen has apologized, but political analysts say the remarks could hurt the GOP in Northern Virginia, where immigrant populations are swelling.

Even as the Montgomery leaders came together last month at the former Smithville Colored School in Silver Spring, they recognized their differences in language and tradition. Blacks in the county as well as statewide have a long history of political organizing, with roots in the civil rights movement. Their leaders said they were re-energized by the debate over voting rights in Congress to build strength in numbers by collaborating with newer Latino and Asian communities.

The challenge is reaching out to these diverse voters on their turf, in the places where they shop, worship and get their news. Outside Grand Mart, an international market in Gaithersburg, Spanish-language radio celebrity Pedro Biaggi lured potential voters with a wink and a smile and a Latin beat blaring from his station, Washington's 99.1 El Zol.