Will 4th District be Latino battleground?

If 2016 is going to be the year of the Latino, then the Democratic primary in Congressional District 4 just became ground zero.

Two of the Latino community’s stars — incumbent state Sen. Ruben Kihuen and former Assemblywoman Lucy Flores — have both declared their intent to seek the seat.

Add to that the fact that a Latina will appear near the top of the ticket — Catherine Cortez Masto is the Democratic anointed one for U.S. Senate — and a presidential contest that will reach out to Latino voters, and you’ve got what could be one of the hardest-fought races in the state.

Kihuen got his start in politics volunteering for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, and earned Reid’s backing when Kihuen considered running for Congressional District 1 in 2012. He was instrumental to the Hillary Clinton campaign back in 2007-08, walking the district with the candidate. He says his previous jobs — political organizing and recruiting students for the College of Southern Nevada — give him a grassroots advantage in the district.

“I intend to win,” he said. “I’ve been building grassroots support in Las Vegas since 1998.”

Kihuen says he favors immigration reform, which is a natural, since he came to the United States with his family when he was 8 years old. His father, a college professor in Guadalajara, moved the entire Kihuen family to the United States for better opportunities.

Asked to name some of his accomplishments, Kihuen cites work he’s done jointly with other lawmakers: He helped state Sen. Mo Denis on driver authorization cards; he worked on a bill to direct money from expiring gift cards to the state; he worked on the bill to restructure the state’s economic development apparatus under Gov. Brian Sandoval; he worked on need-based state grants for low-income students. That last one is a special passion for him: “We’ve got to make college more affordable and more accessible,” he said.

Flores — who didn’t return emails seeking comment about the race by deadline — served two terms in the Assembly, working on legislation including a bill that allows victims of domestic violence to break their leases in order to escape an abusive relationship. She ran for lieutenant governor in 2014, ultimately losing to Mark Hutchison 59.4 percent to 33.6 percent.

During that campaign, Flores highlighted her life story, how she was a young gang member, underwent an abortion and was headed for worse times until she turned her life around with the help of a probation officer. She later graduated from the University of Southern California, got elected to the Assembly and earned a law degree at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law.

The lieutenant governor’s campaign also highlighted some flaws, including allegations of campaign finance violations in which she used campaign money for personal items, but failed to report it on campaign disclosure reports filed with the state. (Flores and several other lawmakers relied on the advice of an attorney in filing those reports, but later filed amended reports detailing the spending.)

But what if ethnicity turns out to be a trifling factor in the race? Although the district by population is mixed, with 36 percent white, 30 percent Hispanic and 14 percent black, the voting population in a Democratic primary may look much different, with white voters outperforming all ethnic minorities. Add to that the fact that a Kihuen-Flores matchup could divide the Latino community and the idea that rural Democratic voters tend to be more conservative than their urban counterparts, and there may be an opportunity for someone like former Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, who says he’s mulling the race but has yet to make a final decision.

Oceguera — a former North Las Vegas firefighter and Assembly speaker who ran for Congress in District 3 in 2012 but lost to Rep. Joe Heck 50 percent to 43 percent — says the district’s population stretches north, nearly to the rural Nevada community where he grew up. And although it’s not constitutionally required, Oceguera noted he lives in the 4th District currently.

It’s a long time until filing opens for the 2016 contests, and the field may change radically because of fundraising, endorsements and strategic decisions. But if things keep going as they are, Congressional District 4 could see, at the very least, a battle royal between two of the state’s top Latino politicians.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist who blogs at SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.