Eva Longoria Explains A 'Big Misconception' About The Latino Vote

Eva Longoria has some news for presidential candidates vying for the White House this year: Don't expect Latino votes just because they have a Spanish surname. 

Longoria, who stopped by HuffPost Live to discuss her new show "Telenovela," weighed in on her friend America Ferrera's hilarious story she told at the MAKERS conference earlier this month. Ferrera remembered the time a reporter asked how she, as a Latina woman, would ever be able to choose between Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz if the 2016 race came down to those two candidates.

Longoria said Ferrera's response to the misguided question was "brilliant." While the current election cycle has focused heavily on racial issues and identity politics, Longoria explained that the issues that compel Latino voters to cast a vote for a candidate are much more nuanced.

"One of the big misconceptions about the Hispanic community is that we will automatically vote for somebody with a Spanish surname. And our community is much smarter than that," Longoria said. 

The former "Desperate Housewives" star also discussed the growing Latino population in the United States and how it engages with politics.

"Even though we showed up in record numbers in 2012, we're still a very young community. The average age of a Latino is 27," she said. "So when you're talking about the Latino vote, you're talking about the millennial vote, and that group in general is hard to engage."

In a race where minority votes will likely have a huge impact, Longoria stressed the importance of bringing young Latinos into the fold.

"A lot of those millennials are Latino. And so we have to speak to them and engage with them in a way in which they feel empowered and part of the process," she said.

Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation with Eva Longoria here. 

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