Longoria Named National Obama Campaign Co-Chair

She’s a longtime and unwavering supporter of President Barack Obama… And, now Eva Longoria is stepping up to help with Obama’s re-election campaign.

The 36-year-old Mexican-American actress, who hosted a special Latino fundraiser for President Barack Obama in Los Angeles, has been named a national co-chair on Obama’s campaign.

Considered an indication of the incumbent’s strategic thinking as his campaign shifts into high gear, Obama’s appointment of Longoria and 34 other strategic supporters as “co-chairs” serves as a roadmap not just to where the president and his advisers see his support, but also to where they hope to strengthen or expand it.

The appointment of the Desperate Housewives star, who vigorously campaigned for Obama the last time around, recognizes Longoria’s personal loyalty to the president and shines a spotlight on the importance Obama and his strategists are attaching to Hollywood in this crucial stage of their reelection campaign. They’ll be looking to the entertainment industry for both contributions and high visibility celebrity endorsements like the ringing one provided by Longoria.

But Longoria isn’t the only Latina/o on the co-chair list… In all, seven of the appointees are of Hispanic descent.

The Latino vote went to Obama in 2008, but hard economic times have battered many communities of recent immigrants — like Los Angeles — and some activists have been disappointed by the president’s lukewarm engagement with the issue of comprehensive immigration reform.

This week’s appointments indicate that Obama’s reelection campaign is determined to shore up its Latino base with appointments ranging from San Antonio’s popular mayor Julian Castro to Los Angeles chief executive Antonio Villaraigosa and local labor leader Maria Elena Durazo of the AFL-CIO.

According to the Obama reelection campaign, the new co-chairs will act as the president’s electoral ambassadors with a special emphasize on getting out the vote in all 50 states.