Utah Latina leaders discuss what drives them, stress involvement
by Tim Vandenack ksl · KSL.comEstimated read time: 4-5 minutes
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Utah Sen. Luz Escamilla, Rep. Angela Romero and Ogden City Councilwoman Luz Flores discussed what drove them to seek office.
- Speaking at a Hispanic Heritage Month event, they also emphasized the importance of political involvement and voting.
- Wednesday's address to students and others at Weber State in Ogden comes as heritage month comes to an end.
OGDEN — Two of Utah's highest-profile Latina leaders say a desire to combat injustice and inequity helped spur their desire to seek public office.
Utah Sen. Luz Escamilla and Utah Rep. Angela Romero addressed a Hispanic Heritage Month gathering at Weber State University on Wednesday, discussing the factors that drove them to vie for posts in the Utah Legislature, what keeps them going and more. Both are Democrats from Salt Lake City and serve as minority leaders in their respective chambers.
"I never knew if I wanted to be an elected official," said Romero, referring to her community organizing during her years as a University of Utah student. "I just knew I wanted to do something to combat injustice."
But when the House post where she lives opened, her mentors encouraged her to vie for the seat, and she won. That was 2012, and she's held the District 25 seat in Salt Lake County ever since.
Escamilla noted the "inequity and disparities" that became more apparent to her as a University of Utah student. More specifically, she noted an instance at an education-related gathering when someone used "a very derogatory term," but none of the others present called it out.
"I had to go to the bathroom and cry, and that was the first moment I realized something needed to be different," said Escamilla, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Mexico. That served as "the engine" to seeking political office and her tenure since 2009 as a Utah lawmaker, now holding the District 10 Senate seat.
Luz Flores, a Latina member of the Ogden City Council, also took part in Wednesday's discussion, organized by Weber State students. She said her public involvement began with advocacy for small business operators and others needing help. She won election to the City Council last year and took office in January.
When visiting the Ogden Municipal Building as part of her advocacy work, she always had "that feeling that I don't belong," said Flores, who was born in California, grew up in Mexico and came to Ogden 10 years ago. "We should have more tools here. (It) should be more easy for the residents, and that is the reason I decided to run."
Hispanic Heritage Month, meant to celebrate the contributions of the Hispanic community in the United States, goes from Sept. 15-Oct. 15 each year. Numerous events have been held around Utah and beyond, and Wednesday's address by Escamilla, Flores and Romero, who's originally from Tooele, was one of the last of many Hispanic Heritage Month activities at Weber State, which is based in Ogden.
'A thorn in someone's side'
Romero, who also has Native American roots, said "the current climate" keeps her going, referencing the crackdown on illegal immigration that's been unfolding across Utah and the rest of the United States under President Donald Trump.
"I feel like we have to be in office and we have to be in leadership so we're visible," Romero said. Maybe she's a "thorn in someone's side, but I don't care because I know you're not going to erase me, you're not going to erase my community, you're not going to erase all the progress we've made as a country."
The three speakers also emphasized the importance of being involved with the crowd, made up largely of students.
Flores, though a U.S. citizen, spent her formative years in Mexico and had to learn English when she returned to the United States. She had a message specifically for younger Latinos who grew up here.
"Honestly, I want to motivate someone else, another Latino," she said. "Because I came to this country 10 years back with no language, with no knowledge of all this, and I'm here. So if you were raised here as Latinos, you know the background in this environment and politics and everything. Run, do it, because we need more voices."
At a more basic level, she encouraged involvement in local government, knowing local leaders and keeping tabs on local government operations.
Romero stressed the importance of voting, particularly by those in mixed-status families that include U.S. citizens who can vote and immigrants who can't.
"For me, what I tell people to do is, if you have that right to vote, it's so important that you show up," she said.
Escamilla said some younger people may "play multiple roles" in helping their families, which can be exhausting. But it's no excuse to shirk involvement, she said, singling out the experience of mixed-status families.
"If you're the only one in your family that has a right to vote and you're not exercising that right, that's not only wasting your own personal right, it's your entire community, your entire family," she said.
She also encouraged involvement, even if it means contending with discomfort.
"Without hesitation, even if the room doesn't look like (you) — man, you can't hardly find anyone that looks like you — then be the first one, because someone else is going to be coming behind you," she said. "So be that person, and know that there's a support system, small, but there is (one) out there."
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.