ABC 4's Chris Vanocur speaks with Jim Dabakis, Utah's new Democratic chair, who spent five months campaigning across Utah for election.
The last 10 years have seen a 45 percent growth in the Hispanic population in Utah (total population: 15 percent). Dabakis believes that there should be more outreach to Hispanics by both major political parties in Utah as they play an integral role in Utah's society.
The biggest concern for Hispanics and other minorities in Utah? Education.
Dabakis calls Utah's education system a "catastrophe for minorities" because of low gradation rates as well as low integration (into higher education) rates. "We're losing these youngsters," Dabakis says of the Hispanic population and other minorities.
"Education is the key to fulfilling the American Dream," Dabakis says, since most of the minorities are here to achieve just that. Some Latinos have seen an American Dream come true within Utah's legislature.
It is Dabakis' concern that the Utah Republican Party refuses to take the education of minorities seriously while he asserts that the Democrats need to continue to place priority on education for minorities.
With the Republicans in Salt Lake City calling on people only in the immediate area, the people in the south are being "disenfranchised," as Dabakis believes. Dabakis thinks that the people of southern Utah deserve their own Congressional district so their voices can be heard as well.
