| | | | |  | | By Madison Fernandez | | | For years, campaigns have bungled Spanish translations. Even President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign site was littered with translation mistakes upon its launch, which were later fixed. One prominent Democratic firm wants to help candidates avoid those problems in the future. Precision Strategies is launching a Spanish language and Hispanic culture specialty practice, details of which were shared first with Score. Daniel Hernández, a principal on Precision’s digital team who founded the practice, said he was tired of seeing “lazy” campaigns targeted at Hispanics — including hasty Spanish translations, imagery that doesn’t resonate culturally with the audiences and voice overs with the wrong accent. A solution to these missteps, Hernández argues, is to have a “Spanish specialist” — one of the team members — involved in a campaign from the onset to ensure that the Spanish content isn’t an afterthought. “Clients and teams might work on a project, and it's not until once they have English-centric ads ready and developed that they tap people to just translate them,” he said. “That's not how we want to work. We want to be involved from the ground-up, from the start of the project, to have our input.” In addition to working on traditional services — social media, texting, email, video production and graphic creation — Hernández said the team is looking to implement a strategy for WhatsApp, a messaging service that’s popular among the Hispanic community. But it’s also one where misinformation and disinformation tends to percolate. Having a team dedicated to Hispanic outreach is even more important given the rising prominence of artificial intelligence, which is expected to rock the 2024 cycle, Hernández added. “It's a question of keeping up with all this slang coming up everywhere in Spanish-speaking countries, but also understanding how to use it,” he said. “It's going to take a while for AI to catch up and understand how to incorporate all these cultural, linguistic nuances into whatever content it is pushing out. I don't think it'll be able to replace us anytime soon.” In last year’s midterm elections, Latino voters proved to be an integral part of the Democratic base, even as there has been some movement to the right in recent cycles. More than 30 million Hispanic Americans were eligible to vote last year — a number that’s only expected to increase as the population grows. “We've been hearing for a while that this demographic shift is going to happen, but now you're starting to kind of really see it,” Hernández said. “Sooner or later campaigns will need to address this.” Happy Monday. Reach me at mfernandez@politico.com and @madfernandez616. Days until the Mississippi primary: 43 Days until the RI-01 and UT-02 special election primaries: 71 Days until the Louisiana primary: 110 Days until the 2023 election: 134 Days until the Republican National Convention: 385 Days until the Democratic National Convention: 420 Days until the 2024 election: 498
| | | | SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.
| | CATTLE CALL — The Faith & Freedom Coalition’s annual “Road to Majority” conference in D.C. was a who’s who of GOP presidential hopefuls as they courted one of the party’s most pivotal voting blocs — evangelical voters. But former President Donald Trump was “still king of the evangelical cattle call,” our Natalie Allison and Meridith McGraw reported from the conference. “The speakers chose to not acknowledge Trump’s often awkward fit within the movement as the self-proclaimed ‘most pro-life president ever’ who has also blamed abortion for political losses and called some evangelical leaders ‘disloyal’ for not automatically endorsing his 2024 bid.” “Trump was not the only topic that some speakers danced around on Friday,” Natalie and Meridith continue. “Talk of abortion also showcased the type of challenges the 2024 Republican presidential field has had with the issue one year after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.” (Former Vice President Mike Pence at the conference called for his fellow candidates to support a 15-week national abortion ban, to which he “received a less than resounding applause — and no standing ovations.”) … RELATED: Much of the Republican presidential field “is testing a new response to abortion rights: Duck, and hope voters move on,” POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg, Adam Wren and Natalie write. “Virtually everyone supporting some type of abortion ban agrees the GOP needs to fix its messaging. … Anti-abortion activists have, at times, expressed frustration with the state of the field. They say they are getting little help from the top-of-the-ticket Republican White House contenders whose messaging will define the party in 2024.” TRUMP TRIAL — Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked that Trump stand trial beginning in December on the federal indictment charging him with illegally retaining national security secrets and obstruction of justice, our Josh Gerstein reports. … RELATED: Trump “has quietly begun diverting more of the money he is raising away from his 2024 presidential campaign and into a political action committee that he has used to pay his personal legal fees,” The New York Times’ Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman report. JUST SUPER — Super PACs are a dominant force in the GOP presidential primary — more so than in previous cycles. Already in the primary, such groups have spent more than $14 million in independent expenditures, compared to around $950,000 at this time in 2015. But the strategies that super PACs are using, including “deploying staffing at campaign events, paying for door-knocking operations and even sending fundraising texts on candidates’ behalf … could test the legal limits on coordination,” our Jessica Piper and Sally write. PILING IT ON — Trump continues to lead the endorsement scoreboard. He rolled out five endorsements from Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, who are part of his Pennsylvania leadership team, on Friday: Reps. Mike Kelly, Dan Meuser, Scott Perry, Guy Reschenthaler and John Joyce. … Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who’s running for governor next year, endorsed Trump at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s conference on Friday. Earlier this month, Trump promised to back Robinson, a controversial candidate who’s seen as the GOP frontrunner. DONOR REVEAL — No Labels, the group looking to run a third party presidential candidate in 2024, does not want to reveal its donors. But Mother Jones’ David Corn and Russ Choma “obtained a list of 36 wealthy contributors and corporate high-rollers who last year wrote big checks” to the group. “Generally, these No Labels supporters, who mostly made contributions of $5,600 to its 2024 project, appear to favor conservative candidates, though many have played both sides of the aisle, financing Republican and Democratic politicians.” PRIMARY PROBLEMS — There are signs that inside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s orbit, "they see New Hampshire as a challenge," writes POLITICO's Lisa Kashinsky and Meridith McGraw. "Out of the four early voting states, libertarian-leaning New Hampshire was never the most logical fit for the conservative, culture-war wielding Florida governor. ... But as the leading contender against Trump nationally, expectations for DeSantis remain sky-high — even in New Hampshire."
| | 2024 WATCH — Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) is planning to run against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in what’s expected to be one of the most competitive Senate races next year, our Ally Mutnick and Burgess Everett report. If he does run, that sets the stage for a competitive primary, as the party establishment looks to recruit a fresh face like Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL. Rosendale narrowly lost to Tester in 2018. THE CHOSEN ONE — The Utah Republican Party chose Celeste Maloy to be its nominee for the UT-02 special election to replace Rep. Chris Stewart, who is resigning the seat later this year. Maloy, an attorney in Stewart’s office who earned his endorsement, beat out a dozen other candidates, including former state House speaker Greg Hughes. Five Republicans have indicated that they will attempt to collect 7,000 signatures by July 5 to make the ballot. But if they don’t Maloy will run in an uncontested primary come September. The district is reliably red. SPECIAL ELECTION SCRAMBLE — The line of Democrats hoping to fill open RI-01 is only getting longer. There are now 16 candidates in the race to succeed former Democratic Rep. David Cicilline after Paul LeBon, an author, joined the race. The official candidate declaration period is this Thursday and Friday, and candidates have until July 14 to submit their nomination papers. Meanwhile, the state Democratic Party announced it will not be endorsing in the primary, WPRI’s Ted Nesi reports. LOUISIANA LOOK — Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who’s seen as a frontrunner in this year’s race for governor, is “ducking events where all of the candidates appear on the stage together,” The Advocate's Tyler Bridges writes. “The Landry campaign is even telling forum planners that, if they want him to show up, they must ensure that he speaks alone, according to two event organizers.” A spokesperson for Landry’s campaign told The Advocate that Landry will debate after the August candidate qualifying deadline. A crowded field of Republicans are hoping to flip the governorship later this year. Remember: Candidates of all party affiliations face off against each other in October’s open primary, and if no candidate hits 50 percent of support, the top two vote-getters will head to a runoff the following month. Former state transportation secretary Shawn Wilson is the only prominent Democrat in the race, and the state Democratic Party endorsed him recently. ABORTION ON THE BALLOT — Battleground Republican House members, who managed to win in blue states like New York and California in 2022, say they are ready for Democratic attacks about abortion in 2024, arguing that “they’re proof that its potency is overstated,” POLITICO’s Brittany Gibson writes. “The delicate approach to abortion policy of vulnerable House Republicans could get overshadowed in 2024 by the more vocal calls from GOP presidential candidates and their conservative colleagues advocating for a national ban.” DOWN-BALLOT DRAMA — Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was appointed to the post earlier this year. Ahead of what’s expected to be a competitive primary in 2024, The Kansas City Star’s Kacen Bayless writes that his short tenure has shown him “aggressively pushing to expand the powers of his office” in regard to issues like gender-affirming care and abortion rights. FIRST IN SCORE — ENDORSEMENT CORNER — End Citizens United/Let America Vote is endorsing Rep. Colin Allred’s (D-Texas) Senate bid. Allred is one of the most prominent Democrats looking to challenge Republican Sen. Ted Cruz next year, although state Sen. Roland Gutierrez is expected to jump in as well.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign announced its New Hampshire leadership team, including defeated 2022 Senate candidate Don Bolduc, per the New Hampshire Journal. CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I want this to be a race that’s positive. And if I see any inclinations that it’s not going in that direction, I will step in and quickly.” (Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on next year’s Senate race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin) | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
