Census Stats: Latinos

From Daily Kos:

The U.S. Census Bureau is gradually releasing demographic data from its 2010 survey, and the first batch of state-level specifics show Hispanic populations rising sharply.
Hispanic populations have grown, both by percentage of states' total populations and by raw numbers, in each of the eight states for which Hispanic-origin data have been released. In some cases, Hispanic populations nearly doubled.

• Arkansas: 6.4 percent (186,050), up from 3.2 percent (2,586,534) in 2000
• Indiana: 6 percent (389,707), up from 3.5 percent (214,536) in 2000
• Iowa: 5 percent (151,544), up from 2.8 percent (82,473) in 2000
• Louisiana: 4.2 percent (192,560), up from 2.4 percent (77,083) in 2000
• Maryland: 8.2 percent (470,632), up from 4.3 percent (227,916) in 2000
• Mississippi: 2.7 percent (81,481), up from 1.4 percent (39,569) in 2000
• New Jersey: 17.7 percent (1,555,144), up from 13.3 percent (1,117,191) in 2000
• Vermont: 1.5 percent (9,208), up from 0.9 percent (5,504) in 2000

The Census Bureau will release the rest of its state-level demographic data over the next month and a half, after which it will be used for redistricting as new congressional and state-legislative district lines are drawn. Texas will be included in the next batch.

There are several impacts from this data. One is that we need to recognize the unmistakable future Hispanic influence on our culture, even for those who wish it wasn't so. Two, our politics will change. Hispanics gave President Obama 67% in 2008. The GOP, at some point, will once again push right on immigration, probably during the next debate over the issue in Congress. They also will certainly have nativist rhetoric in the Arizona Senate primary, in the heart of the southwest. In fact, with Senate races in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas in 2012, immigration issues will be front and center, and Republican primary candidates will spew nativist hate. This will reach the airwaves, and reach the rising Hispanic populations not just in those states, but in the ones listed above.