For Immediate Release
July 8, 2005

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Addresses the Nation’s Largest Latino Political Organization

July 15, 2005

Los Angeles, CA (July 8, 2005) – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will address the nation’s largest Latino Political organization, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), at its Latino Vote 2005 Banquet on July 15. Mayor Villaraigosa will join California’s top Latino elected officials in honoring the accomplishments of SVREP’s 31 years of service as the nation’s leading Latino organization in voter registration, voter education and voter participation. California State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, California Secretary of State Bruce McPhearson, State Senator Liz Figueroa, U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez, L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, and Hugo Argumedo, the Mayor of Commerce are among the confirmed speakers at the event.

The SVREP Latino Vote 2005 Banquet will be held July 15 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resort in Commerce ( 6121 E. Telegraph Road), California at 6:00p.m. “Traditionally, the Latino Vote 2005 Banquet has served as a gathering point for California’s Latino political leadership to celebrate the gains of the Latino community’s participation in the electoral process,” said Antonio Gonzalez, president of Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. “ California’s political landscape has evolved considerably in the past few years and Southwest Voter Registration Education Project has stayed true to its mission of being committed to the political empowerment of the Latino community,” continued Gonzalez.

SVREP’s Latino Vote LA 2005 Campaign during the recent Los Angeles mayoral election was its single largest local effort, propelling Latino voter registration and participation in the mayoral race to record numbers. In an unprecedented GOTV and voter registration effort, SVREP launched an aggressive campaign that increased voter registration among Latinos by nearly 13,000 voters and turned out an estimated 25,000 new Latino voters who had never before voted in an election.

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SVREP is a national nonprofit nonpartisan organization committed solely to the political empowerment of Latino and other minority communities through voter registration, voter education and voter participation. SVREP was established in 1974 by the late Willie Velasquez to encourage civic and political participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities. Since its inception, SVREP has registered over 2.3 million Latino voters throughout the U.S. SVREP has offices in San Antonio, Texas; Los Angeles, California; and Miami, Florida. Visit www.svrep.org for more information.