Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will not attend the U.S.’s largest convention of Latino politicians this weekend, but Bernie Sanders will be among the key speakers.
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Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials—dubbed the national Latino political convention—called the no-show "an affront to the contributions and sacrifices our Latino elected and appointed officials make to this country each and every day," in a statement released Tuesday.
“ Given the extraordinary role our nation’s Latino leaders play in keeping the wheels of our country turning during times of crisis and peace, it is important that NALEO members hear directly from the candidates vying for the nation’s highest office.”
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The bipartisan conference is expected to draw in 1,000 participants and will discuss mental health and gun violence, as the first political conference since the Orlando shooting.
With a rapidly growing Latino voting population, it has been seen as important to elections and was previously attended by Republican presidential candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney.
Clinton’s campaign said that she would not attend because she went last year. NALEO sent out invitations last year and went back and forth with her campaign before she confirmed she would not attend. Many of the headliners were long Clinton advocates, and Julian Castro also made the shortlist for her running mate.
Sanders is expected to speak about income inequality and health care to keep pushing reforms to the Democratic party platform "that reflects the thousands of Latinos, especially millennials, that voted for Bernie and that decided to participate in this political revolution," wrote his Latino outreach spokeswoman Erika Andiola in an email to NBC.