Professors' Paper Featured in Social Science Quarterly
"Latinos, At-Large Elections, and Political Change: Evidence from the 'Transition Zone,'" a collaborative paper written by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Political Science faculty members, Dr. Juan Carlos Huerta, Dr. Robert Bezdek and Dr. David Billeaux, appeared in the March 2000 issue of Social Science Quarterly. Between 1983 and 1995, no Latino candidate had ever won an at-large election for city council in the City of Corpus Christi. According to the trio of researchers, there has been a definite and traditional pattern of polarized voting in Corpus Christi--Latinos voting for Latinos and Anglos voting for Anglos. "In 1997," Huerta offered, "an event occurred that seemed to suggest to some observers a reversal of the trend toward polarized voting--two Latino candidates won at-large elections in Corpus Christi."	Dr. Juan Carlos Huerta
"However," Huerta explained, "our conclusions indicate that ethnically polarized voting is indeed common to the United States and is not at all unique to Corpus Christi. In fact, in the '97 election, the reason the two Latino candidates won--in addition to the fact they were both strong, viable candidates--was that only the two Latino candidates and seven non-Latino candidates ran for office, splitting the vote. Simply put, when the ratio of Latino to non-Latino candidates is low, Latinos generally fare better because they're not chopping up the vote." Huerta, Bezdek and Billeaux conducted extensive research to analyze the 1997 phenomenon in Corpus Christi politics and the conclusions drawn locally that polarized voting trends had possibly changed. But despite appearances to the contrary, polarized voting was still alive and well. "What we found instead," Huerta continued, "was there was strong evidence that polarized voting remains in 'transition zone cities,' like Corpus Christi." "We take pride in the fact that our results have been published in such a highly respected, peer-reviewed journal as the Social Science Quarterly," Huerta concluded. "And we're equally delighted that our peers, with extensive election expertise, have responded so favorably to our research."