Latino VoicesLatino PoliticsEva LongoriaLatino Voices

Latinos Gain Political Muscle, And Fund-Raisers Show How

Latino Elites Flex Their Political Muscle
Roque Planas
By 

National Reporter, HuffPost

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: Actress Eva Longoria (C) attends the the public ceremonial inauguration for U.S. President Barack Obama on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term as President of the United States. on January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 21: Actress Eva Longoria (C) attends the the public ceremonial inauguration for U.S. President Barack Obama on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term as President of the United States. on January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

SAN ANTONIO — On a wall in his sun-drenched, art-filled Tudor home, Henry R. Muñoz III displays a memento of his childhood: a framed protest sign proclaiming, “Texas needs $1.25 an hour minimum wage.” He carried it when he was 6 years old while riding a burro during a farm workers’ march alongside his father, a labor organizer, and the Mexican-American activist Cesar Chavez.

Today, as the chief executive of a design firm here, Mr. Muñoz is a wealthy San Antonio businessman, civic leader and patron of the arts. After helping to raise millions to re-elect President Obama, he recently acquired another title: finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee, the first Latino to hold the job.

Mr. Muñoz’s journey from son of a sharp-elbowed union leader to Democratic power broker is a microcosm of a larger coming-of-age story about American Hispanics, who are making their presence felt in politics as never before.

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