Posted on 12/08/2006 1:14:05 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
WASHINGTON -- The congressional runoff election Tuesday between two Hispanics with vastly different outlooks is being seen by Latino groups as a potential of the Hispanic vote in the country and of an example of coming battles to protect minority voting strength.
Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla faces Democratic former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in the second round of balloting for the newly redrawn 23rd Congressional District, which spans from San Antonio nearly to El Paso and along the Texas-Mexico border. Neither man received 50 percent of the vote in an eight-way race on Nov. 7.
The district was redrawn this summer after the Supreme Court ruled that the district lines unfairly diluted Hispanic voting strength.
The district is nearly evenly split in party identity, with about 51 percent Democrats and 49 percent Republicans, according to the Texas Legislative Council. The voting age population is 61.2 percent Hispanic and 54.7 percent of registered voters have Spanish surnames. But Hispanic voters in west and south Texas don't always vote Democratic.
"This is sort of a special district. There's a lot of ticket splitting. Someone may vote for George Bush for president and a Democrat for county commissioner," said Nina Perales, Southwest regional counsel for Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
But the redistricting effort, designed to build Republican support by diluting Hispanic voting power, led some Latino groups to believe that as the Hispanic population grows nationally, there were be more attempts to curb their voting. Political leaders should be reaching out and talking to Latinos, Perales said.
"Everyone deserves to have the candidates knock on their door and ask for their vote," she said.
Bonilla is the only Mexican-American Republican in Congress and often represents his party's Hispanic outreach. He votes overwhelmingly with Republican leadership and was a close ally of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Bonilla's opposition to abortion and gay rights and his emphasis on family values and other conservative social positions appeals to some of the cultural values of Hispanics in the district.
Yet Bonilla's support among Hispanics has been slipping. Bonilla got 52 percent of the vote against a Democratic Hispanic in 2002, before it was redrawn. The redistricting removed 100,000 Hispanics from his district and replaced them with white voters to help ensure his win.
"The most secure voting group for Republicans is white Protestants. How you maintain that security while courting Hispanics is a touchy issue," said John Alford, a Rice University political scientist and redistricting expert.
Throughout his congressional career, Bonilla has bristled at suggestions that his ethnicity should dictate his political philosophy.
"There's a huge myth that exists out there for people of color that your skin color dictates your political ideas, and the darker your skin the more to the left you automatically are. And that is the biggest insult anyone can make," Bonilla said at the 2004 convention in New York.
The median income among Latinos in the district is $32,513 and just 23 percent have a college degree, while 37 percent have not finished high school, according to National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
Those economic realities could spur some of the district's Hispanic voters to support Rodriguez and his party's support for an increase in the minimum wage, lowering health care costs and labor rights.
"A Democratic congressman's first responsibility is to stand up for the needs of seniors, of children and of working families," Rodriguez said in March.
But Latino groups fear state officials have already skewed the election in Bonilla's favor.
The runoff date, Dec. 12, is the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a holy day for Hispanics who may be too occupied with observances to vote. Early voting started last weekend in some counties in the district.
"In Texas, in the not too distant future, Latinos will be the majority in this state. Those in power are there temporarily," said Luis Vera, attorney for the League of United Latin American Citizens and Rodriguez's treasurer. "These people who hold power right now, if they don't help us protect the rights we're fighting for, then the ones in danger are going to be their children and their grandchildren because they are going to be in the minority."
The state denies trying to suppress Hispanic vote. State officials said they set the date at the earliest possible time and followed the election code.
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On the Net: Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund: http://www.maldef.org
League of United Latin American Citizens: http://www.lulac.org
Texas Secretary of State: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/
Nice
ping!
I read a fascinating essay the other day that postulated the children of illegal aliens do not have automatic citizenship, according to the Constitution. I agree.
The LULAC representitive isn't lying or wrong, demographically, Hispanics will be the dominant minority soon, and if birth rates continue, they will be the majority inside the US.
That is what we get for allowing our political leaders to not address securing the border and enforcing the laws of the land.
Es verdad. I (and the entire extended HR family) are proof of this.
Bears repeating.
"There's a huge myth that exists out there for people of color that your skin color dictates your political ideas, and the darker your skin the more to the left you automatically are. And that is the biggest insult anyone can make,"
"The district was redrawn this summer after the Supreme Court ruled that the district lines unfairly diluted Hispanic voting strength."
Even with Roberts and Alito, you can still see the idiocy that flows from the U.S. supreme court.
Hispanics are already the largest minority in the U.S. According to the 2000 census, the percentages are: White, 75%; Hispanic, 13%; Black, 12%; Asian, 3%; and American Indian, 1%. The total is more than 100% because the majority of Hispanics also claim to be white or black.
Hispanics are not yet a dominant minority the way African Americans were in the 70's, they hold a very small percentage of the population over African Americans.
The Republican Parties next moves in welcoming Hispanics will decide the future of our party.
We feel the same about our children.
Luis Vera assumes that everyone with a hispanic surname votes, will vote, democrat. Idiot. We delivered a household of Republican votes last election, and will continue to do so. LULAC does not speak for anyone here.
LULAC does not speak for anyone here.
Block thinking on LULAC's part no doubt.
Hispanics are caucasians..I think that is where the confusion is.
Wait a second...
Is this a "chocolate" joke???
I didn't see Ray "Where my buses?" Nagin poking around here...
I hope Henry can get out the vote...The liberals are frothing at the mouth waiting to get in there and vote...
Because they all know its about Bush and Iraq, and lying, and corruption, and Rumsfield and WMD's and...and...and...
Shut up Steve!
- Not at all giving you a hard time Phil...You just showed me the door...I opened it...;-)
They also assume that everyone with a hispanic surname is Catholic.
When the assuming is done by someone else LULAC is very quick to scream racism and bigotry, aren't they. It's their modus operandi.
Well, I just feel uncomfortable about the potential outcome on Tuesday. I do not think that a Bonilla victory is by any means assured.
OK, explain to me how a median income of $32,513 (almost $16 an hour) translates into support for a higher minimum wage.
That $32,000 is gross and it may be for five or six individuals. The poor seem to think that Democrat congressmen will "watch after" them.
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