The Takeaway

This week, Futuro Media released its first ever-poll of Latino voters and the results offer critical insights into the fastest-growing racial and ethnic group in the U.S. electorate – making up more than 34 million eligible voters.

The polling looked closely at the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. In the sunshine state, where Latinos account for more than 1 in 5 eligible voters – it’s incumbent Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis who earned higher ratings that his opponent Charlie Crist.

In Georgia – Latino’s who are about six percent of the state’s eligible voters show a preference for incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp over Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams.

But up in Pennsylvania, it's the Democratic candidates in both the Governor and Senate races with a slight edge. 

So what does all of this tell us about Latino voters? To find out we spoke with Julio Ricardo Varela, President of Futuro Media and co-host of the podcast “In the Thick,” and with me is Héctor Sánchez Barba, the CEO of Mi Familia Vota, a non-profit organization that encourages Latino election participation. Héctor , welcome to The Takeaway.

Oliver Morrison, General Assignment Reporter for WESA-FM joins us to discuss key takeaways from the only debate between Dr. Mehmet Oz and Lt. Governor John Fetterman in Pennsylvania for the U.S Senate seat.

This month the U.N. announced that there were 7.7 million Ukrainian refugees scattered across Europe. Among them is a 12-year-old girl, Yeva Skalietska.

 During the early days of the war on Ukraine, Yeva picked up an empty notebook and began to write everything she was experiencing. She begins her journey on the day of her 12th birthday and through her diary we see the normal life of a 12-year-old girl change to a war zone. Now safe with her grandmother in Ireland, Yeva has published her diary into a book, "You Don’t Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl from Ukraine." 

Teen Vogue and Change Research conducted a poll targeting 1,173 young voters across the country for their “Midterms Vibe Check” series. Versha Sharma, Editor in Chief of Teen Vogue, joins us to discuss the results and what they say about voters under 35 in the United States.

In National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, pork producers are suing, saying that it is too expensive to comply with the standards set by California's Proposition 12, a measure that attempts to increase the living conditions for farm raised animals such as chickens and pigs. Most pork raised on pig farms in other states are confined to metal gestation crates where they are unable to turn around for their entire lives. Because most pork consumed in California is produced outside of California, the measure in effect forces out of state pork producers to comply to California's standards. Pork producers claim that the Constitution does not empower California to effectively set regulatory standards for all other states. 

First, we speak with Kathy Hessler, Assistant Dean for Animal Legal Education at George Washington University Law School, about National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, and its possible implications. Then we speak with Tyler Doggett, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Vermont, about how we should think about the living conditions of the pigs we kill for food.

Economic and political turmoil in Venezuela has led to a record number of Venezuelan migrants making the dangerous trek across Central America to seek refuge in the United States. Since last October, more than 150 thousand Venezuelans have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border. For the first time on record, in August of this year, the number of Venezuelan migrants detained by Mexican authorities exceeded the number of migrants from Central America. Until recently Venezuelan migrants were allowed to stay in the United States while they waited to go through immigration court and apply for asylum, but now the situation is more complex and the Biden Administration announced in mid-October that Venezuelan migrants would start being expelled back to Mexico under the controversial public health order, known as Title 42.

For more, we spoke with Ambassador Patrick Duddy, director of Duke University’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and from 2007 to 2010 he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for both President Bush and President Obama.

Republican Monica De LaCruz is a small business owner and insurance agent. She has a massive fundraising advantage. She’s brought in nearly $4 million compared to Democrat Michelle Vallejo's $1.5 million. Democrat Michelle Vallejo is a grassroots and business leader. The outcomes of House races can be affected by campaigns at the top of the ticket, and the Texas governor's race versus Beto O'Rourke and Greg Abbott is a big one raging in Texas right now. 

Race is also a big factor in this all-Latina, woman versus woman election. Texas’s 15th Congressional district is more than 80% Latino, and whatever happens in this Texas Congressional district will shape how many political observers understand the political power and preferences of Latino voters. 

We hear from Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder of Voto Latino and Matthew Choi, Washington Correspondent for the Texas Tribune for more. 

Artist, photographer and filmmaker Sky Hopinka centers Indigenous perspectives in his films, layering abstract sounds, bright imagery and occasionally his own poems. Hopinka’s films are intended to capture the histories and contemporary experiences of Native peoples. His films Anti-Objects, or Space Without Path or Boundary (2017), Mnemonics of Shape and Reason (2021), and maɬni—towards the ocean, towards the shore (2020) all show Hopinka’s use of innovative cinematic language. He also founded COUSIN, a collective to support Native filmmakers and is an assistant professor of Film and Electronic Arts at Bard College. 

22-year-old jazz singer Samara Joy is out with her debut album, Linger Awhile. With comparisons to the likes of Sarah Vaughan and other great jazz artists, Samara is taking the music world by storm.

39 states elect judges in some form, so chances are you may see judges up for vote on your ballot in November. But what is the difference between all the different circuit courts in which judges preside over? And how can voters access information about the judges on their ballot? And... should judges even be elected? We speak with LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, retired California superior court judge, and author of the recent book Her Honor: My Life on the Bench... What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It.