The Latino Vote Prevailed in State-Wide Races
An interesting analysis of the Latino vote in California, published by Ganett, points out that the strength of the Latino vote is in state-wide races. Erin Kelly writes:
“While Republicans swept into congressional offices and governors’ mansions across the nation, the Golden State elected two liberal Democrats to their top statewide offices, returning U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer to the Senate and electing Attorney General Jerry Brown governor despite early predictions that Republicans would win both seats.”
The reason, according to Kelly is “the alienation of Hispanic voters turned off by years of tough rhetoric on immigration by California Republicans.” Adam Mendelsohn, a former deputy chief of staff for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was quoted as saying “We lost every statewide election because we lost Latino voters. We are now getting larger and larger Latino populations outside the West in states like Iowa and North Carolina and Louisiana. And Republicans have to be aware of the cost of harsh rhetoric.”
But it’s not only in California. Texas Rep. Lamar Smith called the DREAM Act “a nightmare” for Americans when he let loose this diatribe on the floor of the House: “It puts the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of those of law-abiding Americans.”
Across the nation, though, eight Latino Republicans were voted into Congress and seven were elected to state-wide offices. GOP leaders are touting this as the beginning of a trend, a “chipping away” at a long held belief that the Republican party is a party of old white men. But there is dissension in the ranks. Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican and former political consultant was quoted in the same article:
“It’s great that they elected a Latino (Rubio) in Florida, but Mexican-Americans aren’t going to get fired up because some Cuban-Americans got elected in Florida. The Arizona (anti-illegal-immigration) law was much more important in this election. If you support the Arizona law, in the minds of most Latinos, it means, ‘You don’t like us, and we’re not going to vote for you.'”
I think California is a better indication of Latino voting trends. Either way, 2012 is looking to be an epic election cycle. We’ll be here for analysis and play-by-play.
