Whiny Omaha Latinos?
Update; According to the Omaha World Herald, Rebecca Barrientos-Patlan changed her voter registration to nonpartisan, but when? (https://omaha.com/news/local/government-politics/some-latinos-critical-of-hug-appointment-to-omaha-city-council/article_12d7f844-580e-11ee-9f92-f7de7fc62a3b.html)
So the progressive League of United Latin American Citizens is taking issue with Democrat Mr. Hug becoming the Omaha City Council replacement of Democrat Vinny Palermo (https://lulac.org/news/pr/LULAC_ANNOUNCES_CAMPAIGN_TO_MOBILIZE_LATINO_VOTERS_AND_DEMAND_REPRESENTATION_FOLLOWING_BEING_SHUT_OUT_BY_OMAHA_NEBRASKA_LEADERS/). The politics of this is so hypocritical. There were two Hispanic candidates, one Republican and one Democrat: Rebecca Barrientos-Patlan and Erik Servellon. So why did the Council not choose one of them?
First, why did Hispanics not try to win the office outright when Vinny Palermo first ran for the office? Now they play the victim when Palermo is stuck in jail? Had Hispanics supported Rebecca Barrientos-Patlan in the 2021 election, perhaps the outcomes would have been different (https://ballotpedia.org/Rebecca_Barrientos-Patlan). As for Erik Servellon, he has been running for political office for years (https://ballotpedia.org/Erik_Servellon). The reality is many Hispanics stay out of politics.
Second, with politics, Hispanics and Latinos are divided. There really is not a Hispanic voting block or at least not a large one. The fact there were two applicants from different political parties shows the division. To choose one over the other was likely to spark more conflict, particularly when the office is supposedly nonpartisan.
Third, the City is also divided and it shows on the City Council. This is largely why Mr. Hug got the vote. Very difficult to expect a divided Council to move in a different direction. Mr. Hug ended up being the result of "rank choice voting" as the Council brokered a compromised candidate.
Fourth, some Hispanics appear to be alright with second-class status in the Democrat Party instead of seeking opportunities in both political parties to win office. Mr. Servellon's candidacy suffered from this as did Ms. Barrientos-Patlan. Had either ran for this office as a nonpartisan candidate or one of them supported the other, they may have reached broader political support but this is just speculation. But many Hispanics are going to be content with Mr. Hug being a Democrat.
What would have happened if Ms. Barrientos-Patlan applied as a non-partisan and Mr. Servellon advocated for her instead of competing against her? Well, no way of knowing now but he did whine about the results (https://omaha.com/opinion/column/midlands-voices-omaha-city-council-failed-the-latino-community-in-filling-district-4-seat/article_f0a77ee6-53f5-11ee-864f-07f0df885b6e.html).