Hispanic group hits Newsom for hiring too many White people: 'Ensure... all Californians have representation'
California Gov. Gavin Newsom was criticized by a Hispanic advocacy group for not making diversity enough of a priority for his appointments in 2023.
Hispanas Organized for Political Equality or "HOPE," released a new report analyzing the demographic data of Newsom's 480 appointments to boards, commissions, agencies and task forces in the past year. The group found over half of the people he appointed —52%— were White.
"Our findings are clear; the rich diversity of California’s population is not reflected in the demographic makeup of board members and commissioners appointed in 2023," HOPE said.
The group commended the governor for reaching "near gender parity" in his appointments and making "strides" to appoint more people of color in the past year. However, they said, "Latino, Black, AAPI [Asian American and Pacific Islander], and Native American Californians remained vastly underrepresented."
The report showed 17% of appointments went to Latinos, 11% to Blacks, 8.5% to Asian American and Pacific Islanders, 2% to Native Americans and 8% of appointments' racial background was unknown.
"We’re missing out on hearing from the voices of communities that may be underserved," Helen Torres, CEO of HOPE, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Diverse appointments are "a fail-safe to ensure that all Californians have representation on some of the most important commissions that make the most important decisions," she told the outlet.
Hispanics are the largest racial group in the Golden State at 40% of its population, according to census data analyzed by the Public Policy Institute of California. Whites make up 34%, Asian Americans make up 15% and Blacks make up 5% of the state's 39 million residents.
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HOPE has sponsored legislation in the past three years calling on the governor to be more transparent about the racial demographics of his appointments, which they say he has vetoed three times.
Newsom's office told Fox News Digital that his administration "is deeply committed to making diverse appointments at every level of government that reflect California's diversity."
Spokesperson Erin Mellon argued that the HOPE report does not account for the governor's history of appointing diverse leaders. She cited a 2022 report by the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute that found more than 70% of recent Latino appointments to the executive branch were appointed by his administration from 2019-2022.
In recent years, Newsom appointed Latinos to prominent positions, including U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla to fill the seat vacated by Kamala Harris, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California Patricia Guerrero.
"The Governor’s Office makes an intentional, transparent effort to continuously engage with the Legislature, community partners, nonprofits, and other stakeholders to build a diverse and qualified pool of candidates for appointment," the statement continued.
When vetoing the most recent legislation, Newsom said he remains committed to making sure his appointments reflect the diversity of his state, but that the demographic reporting under the legislation is optional and self-reported so it would not be accurate.
Hispanas Organized for Political Equality did not immediately return a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
More Hispanics and young people are turning away from the Democratic Party and supporting former President Trump heading into the next election, some polls have found.
"[The conservative] message is really resonating with us," Monet Flores-Bacs, strategic director at the New Mexico-based nonprofit LIBRE Initiative, told Fox News on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, Biden's policies for Hispanics, for most Democrats, it's worked in the past, but we're feeling it at the grocery store, we're feeling it at the gas station. Even in just the last election, tax policy didn't affect even myself and other young voters the way that they do this election, so we're feeling it in our bank account at the grocery store. We're going to vote based on that," she continued.
Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.