{"id":6,"date":"2023-05-15T16:41:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T20:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/news\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T09:03:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T13:03:54","slug":"projects-news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/projects-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice Media co-Lab Projects Newsroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Bedford Light: Analysis: Can candidates reach the Hispanic and Latino community?<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

October 8, 2025<\/p>\n

Excerpt from The New Bedford Light | By Colin Hogan | October 8, 2025 | Photo: Eleonora Bianchi<\/span><\/p>\n

Preliminary election night in New Bedford is usually when the city\u2019s inner circle of politicians and activists hobnob and obsess over esoteric turnout percentages. This Tuesday was on track for more of the same, as about 20 people gathered in City Hall for election results, representing the usual cadre of candidates, spouses, volunteers, and a smattering of reporters.<\/p>\n

But then something strange happened: three challengers beat out an incumbent.<\/p>\n

No incumbent among New Bedford\u2019s at-large councilors has lost reelection in more than a decade. The only way new at-large candidates have won their seats is through the retirement of a sitting councilor<\/p>\n

Shane Burgo is the only new at-large councilor within the last decade, winning an open seat in 2021. The other at-large seats have belonged to the incumbents for, in some cases, decades: Brian Gomes (more than 30 years); Linda Morad (20 years, and who is not seeking reelection this year); Naomi Carney (12 years); Ian Abreu (10 years).<\/p>\n

So it was a surprise to the small assembly inside City Hall that three challengers \u2014 Devin Byrnes, James Roy and Jennifer Arruda \u2014\u00a0finished ahead of the incumbent Carney, former City Councilor Scott Lima, and current School Committee member Christopher Cotter, all of whom are known political entities in New Bedford.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The New Bedford Light: New Bedford\u2019s growing Hispanic population lags in voter turnout. One in every four New Bedford residents is Hispanic, but none of the 11 city councilors are<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

August 11, 2025<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Excerpt from The New Bedford Light | By Grace Ferguson, Tavishi Chattopadhyay and Jakob Moskowitz |August 11, 2025.
\nPhoto: Jack Spillane \/ The New Bedford Light<\/p>\n

The influence of New Bedford\u2019s fastest-growing population is easy to spot.<\/p>\n

You can find restaurants serving any tortilla-based dish you desire on Acushnet Avenue. More teachers and police officers in the city are speaking Spanish than ever before. The recent renovation of Dias Field into a soccer complex reflects how children\u2019s interests have shifted from baseball to f\u00fatbol.<\/p>\n

One place the changes haven\u2019t reached: the City Council chamber. One in every four New Bedford residents is Hispanic, but none of the city\u2019s 11 councilors are.<\/p>\n

Hispanic residents turn out to vote at lower rates than the rest of the city, casting less than one in every 10 votes during recent general elections, according to a New Bedford Light analysis of voter data in collaboration with Boston University\u2019s Spark! Justice Media co-lab.<\/p>\n

In New Bedford, Hispanics are a young population with many recent immigrants, which means a smaller share of the city\u2019s Hispanic population is eligible to vote compared to the city as a whole. While 65% of New Bedford residents are U.S. citizens over the age of 18, just 44% of the city\u2019s Hispanics fall into that group.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New Bedford Light: Analysis: Can candidates reach the Hispanic and Latino community? October 8, 2025 Excerpt from The New Bedford Light | By Colin Hogan | October 8, 2025 | Photo: Eleonora Bianchi Preliminary election night in New Bedford is usually when the city\u2019s inner circle of politicians and activists hobnob and obsess over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13120,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/news.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":513,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions\/513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/justice-media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}