Iowa's small Latino population looms large in 2020 election

MUSCATINE, Iowa - Bernie Sanders sounded awkwardly gringo in naming the Latino politician he thanked for introducing him, and he bungled the Spanish title of his own event, dropping the "con" from "Unidos con Bernie." Yet it only seemed to endear "Tio Bernie" to the Latino voters gathered in this Iowa town to see him.

In a state often criticized as too white to hold such political influence, Latinos are key to the coalition that Sanders is trying to assemble in his bid to win the Iowa caucuses that open the Democrats' presidential-nominating contest on Feb. 3.

With Iowa very much up for grabs - no single Democrat has emerged as a dominant front-runner here - the state's small but growing population of Latinos is getting