With the California primary election happening Tuesday, Mar. 3, Latino students at Diablo Valley College have started to seriously consider which candidate best represents their interests at the national level.

Topping their list so far is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Brenda Ortis is a communications major and one of many Latinos here who believe Bernie would be a great representative.

“I feel he should definitely be elected. This is his second time in a row running, and I have never seen a candidate who is so passionate to be president,” said Ortis. “Not only that, but I agree with all his ideas, and even though Donald Trump is currently the president, (Bernie) still tries to advocate for us.” 

Many in the Latino and hispanic community have made it their priority to get “Tio Bernie” elected in November. Aida Ocampo, a manager at the DVC Puma Center, said Latinos’ concerns often don’t get attention until election season.

While Ocampo said she intends to vote for Sanders, she felt candidates should be more invested generally in Latino issues.

“I think all candidates can focus even more on the Latino vote,” she said. “They haven’t made enough of a detailed statement on some of the issues that matter for Latinos, specifically what actual comprehensive immigration reform would look like for them.”

Latinos, like most voters, worry about whether any presidential candidate will keep their promises after the election. On his website, Sanders states that he is running for president so that, “when we are in the White House, the movement we build together can achieve economic, racial, social and environmental justice for all.” 

Toby Gomez, a DVC student who says she votes Democratic, believes it is up to this generation to elect the right president “who will actually make a change for the better good of everyone.” 

She said that “as the upcoming generation we do have a lot to say in what’s going on.”

And even though she said that Bernie Sanders is “an amazing person,” she still encouraged everybody to do “intense research” of the candidates because “we are the ones making decisions about the future.”