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Texas To Factor Into Clinton Push For Latino Voters

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton is ramping up her outreach to Hispanic voters, and Texas is playing a prominent role in the coming push.

Hillary Clinton speaking in Austin on June 20, 2014.

*Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton is ramping up her outreach to Hispanic voters, and Texas is playing a prominent role in the coming push.

The former secretary of state plans to speak Oct. 15 in San Antonio about Hispanic women and her own ties to the Latino community, a campaign aide said Thursday. The speech will be part of a national effort called "Latinos for Hillary" that the campaign is launching to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month. 

The speech is not the only way Texas is factoring into Latinos for Hillary. Texas is also among the several states the campaign plans to host "Latino house parties" during the first Democratic presidential debate, which is scheduled for Oct. 13 in Las Vegas. And the campaign is dispatching U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, to Nevada two days before the debate to stump for her in the early voting state.

In Texas, Clinton will have the opportunity to remind the state's Latinos of her work helping register Hispanic voters in South Texas after graduating from law school. Endorsing Clinton for president on Wednesday, former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis suggested Texans won't forget her early activism in the state come Election Day. 

"I know that Hillary holds Texas in a very dear place in her heart," Davis said, later telling reporters, "She's been loyal to this state, and I expect that this state's going to be loyal to her."

Clinton's stop in San Antonio is being billed as her first organizing event in Texas since launching her campaign in April. She visited Houston in June for a speech on voting rights and has since returned to Texas for fundraisers in the Dallas area and Rio Grande Valley. 

On the same day she speaks in San Antonio, Clinton is set to attend a fundraiser in Houston organized by local attorney Carrin Patman. Patman is one of 10 "Hillblazers" in Texas, 125 across the country, who have agreed to bundle at least $100,000 for Clinton's campaign.

Outside Texas, Clinton's push for Latino voters will include a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute next week in Washington, D.C. Her campaign sees the overall effort as a timely contrast with the GOP race for the White House, which has been roiled by inflammatory comments on illegal immigration by frontrunner Donald Trump.  

Disclosure: Carrin Patman is a donor to The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

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