After November's election, analysts and politicians around the country took notice of the decisive role that communities of color, particularly Latinos, played in President Barack Obama's re-election. For the first time in a federal election, Latinos accounted for 10 percent of the total votes cast, and African-American turnout increased in critical states like Ohio.
Newly available local data reveal a similar story on Long Island: the Latino and African-American vote continues to grow more critical, and politicians must take these communities' needs more seriously.
Long Island has long been seen as the prototypical American suburb: single-family homes, picket fences, and a fairly homogeneous white population.
But Long Island's demographics have changed. Even a cursory glance reveals signs of transformation — from the Salvadoran pupusa shops to the Halal shops, this is no longer Abe Levitt's Long Island.
Census data show that Latinos, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and other immigrants now account for roughly one quarter of Long Island's population, with the largest growth in the Latino community.
The electorate has not always kept up with the changing demographics. For years, registration levels and turnout have remained lower in majority-minority areas. These communities have developed the reputation of being low-turnout communities, a reputation with clear and detrimental consequences like fewer resources from county and state coffers.
But politicians, take note: Long Island's electorate is increasingly matching its demographics.
After analyzing voting records for both counties in a voter database, I found that, in Suffolk County, approximately 16 percent of the votes cast on Nov. 6 were cast by voters of color. And the share of votes cast by the African-American and Hispanic community surpassed expectations for 2012 by surpassing 13 percent. This figure reflects a 14 percent increase from 2004.
In Nassau County, the numbers are even greater: more than 23 percent of votes cast in 2012 were from voters of color.
Long Island's political leaders need to do more to heed the needs and priorities of the region's increasingly diverse electorate. As the state's legislative session begins to heat up, two bear particular mention.
First, these communities want stable, well-paying jobs. Voters expressed particular support for an increase in the minimum wage. Also, higher education access for all is critical. One point with great support among voters we engaged was support for the New York State DREAM Act, which would give undocumented immigrant students access to the state's Tuition Assistance Program.
On these two key issues, state legislators have an opportunity to show their responsiveness to increasingly diverse constituencies. This is particularly true for Long Island's nine state senators, who often vote as a bloc and have been cool to these pieces of legislation.
These senators' districts are changing. They need to be more responsive to these communities, or they will pay a political price. Supporting a minimum wage increase and the New York State DREAM Act would be two important steps in that direction.
Daniel Altschuler is the coordinator of the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, an initiative to increase civic participation among working-class communities of color.