OMAHA- The League of United Latin American Citizens, a volunteer-driven coalition based in Washington, D.C., announced the launch of a new program aimed at mobilizing Omaha's Latino community to demand representation on the City Council. The call for protest came shortly after the City Council voted unanimously to appoint Ron Hug to the City Council to replace Vinny Palermo.

District 4, the area of Omaha that Hug will now represent, includes a majority of the city's Latino community, with nearly one in to voting-age residents being Latino. Elsa Ramon Aranda, council president of LULAC Nebraska and an Omaha-based Latino community advocate, described the selection process as a "farce" and claimed the Council overlooked three Latino candidates "of a new generation our community knows and respects."

Despite this, Hug said that the objections from his new constituents just mean that they don't know him very well yet, and said several members of his family are Latino. The new Councilman continued by saying he'll work to remind his constituents of his South Omaha roots and serve them as he's done on the Metro Community College Board since 1998. LULAC said they intend for their new campaign to be a "rallying cry" ahead of the 2024 and 2025 elections, and are encouraging Latonis to reach out to Omaha-based corporations for support.

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