Hispanics Key to Texas Race for Governor

NewsMax ^ | 3/13/02 | (UPI)

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

DALLAS – Texas Democrat gubernatorial nominee Tony Sanchez benefited from a heavy Hispanic turnout, and he could attract even more Latino support in his campaign against Republican Gov. Rick Perry, a political analyst said Wednesday.

Sanchez, a millionaire Laredo oilman, banker and rancher, easily defeated former Attorney General Dan Morales by 61 to 33 percent in Tuesday's primary race, surpassing predictions by many political pundits who believed the race would be closer.

Sanchez had taunted Morales for not acting more Hispanic. They debated in Spanish during the campaign, a national first.

Hispanics accounted for 35 percent of the vote in the Democrat race, a record for the state, according to Antonio Gonzalez, president of William C. Velasquez Institute, a Latino public policy and research think tank.

The strong Hispanic turnout helped Sanchez win the Democrat nomination without a runoff and nearly reached levels of Latino turnout in past general elections, when more people usually vote.

"It was a good anticipator of the November election," Gonzalez said. "You are talking about nearly 400,000 votes, and the record is 475,000 for a governor's race. You are practically at a general election turnout clip in the primary, and that really bodes well for Sanchez' ability to mobilize the Latino vote at even higher levels in the general election."

In the 1990s the Latino turnout in Texas elections was flat, but the emergence of Hispanic candidates has turned that around this election year, he said, and there is no doubt the Perry campaign will take the wealthy Democrat seriously.

The Hispanic population has increased from 25 to 33 percent of the state's 21 million residents in the past decade. About two million of the 6.5 million Latinos living in the state are registered voters and a growing political force.

Speaking English 'an Act of Disrespect'!

Morales made "a huge mistake" when he decided against speaking only Spanish during the historic March 1 Spanish-language debate in Dallas and accused Sanchez of trying to divide the state, Gonzalez said.

"It really turned off Hispanics, even Hispanics who speak mostly English," the analyst said. "They saw it as an act of disrespect. There is nothing worse you can do in the Latino culture than to disrespect somebody."

The candidates debated for an hour in English and then were to answer questions in Spanish only in the second session, but Morales refused to speak only in Spanish and answered some questions in English. Morales made a play for the white Democrat vote, and it failed to turn out the necessary votes at the polls to force a runoff, Gonzalez said.

Morales' campaign was heavily outspent by Sanchez, who is reportedly worth $600 million. The multimillionaire spent nearly $18 million on the campaign for the nomination compared to Morales' $600,000, according to state reports.

Morales, a former prosecutor, legislator, and two-term attorney general, extended his congratulations to Sanchez when the bitter campaign ended Tuesday night, but he left the door open for another bid for political office sometime in the future. Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

[Holden Magroin]

It's going to be tough to win elections without CA, FL, TX, AZ, NM, CO, NV...

[PatrioticAmerican]

We have our own Palistine; the Southwest.

[cutlass]

Yep, the Mexican Invasion continues. And with a new ally, Jorge Bush, and his Republican party.

[doc]

What a great idea, Amenesty!

[Consort]

The English/Spanish controversy in the US will soon rival, and then surpass, the English/French controversy in Canada. The secession issue in both countries will loom over North America. The activists are looking for the right catalyst. Maybe the Earth Change Map predictions of late were not geological but political and cultural, instead.

[dougherty]

Hispanics chose Sanchez, the liberal race hustler, over Morales by a wide margin. And Bush thinks he can win with these people? He thinks they will vote for him over a liberal candidate? He's living in a dream-world.

[deport]

Apparently Moralez ran an inept campaign from the start. I don't think he could have won but he may have made it much closer......

The dems triad is falling into place for the fall general if Kirk can win the run off for the senate position.

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

A mi me parece que esta gente tiene gusto del arbusto, él los speakes españoles y se relaciona con ellos.

[Digger]

HISPANICS RULE...YEH,BABY! All the while you pubbies kept voting for this "two-party cartel". All the while you spew your love for the New World Order, all the while you villify Pat Buchanan, all the while you just built a third world country to be. Thanks for nothing.

[deport]

FYI.... poor turnout with the dems having about 8.4% and the repubs about 5.1% in the governors primary....

[cutlass]

Yep, Kalifornia and Texas are lost to the Mexican Invasion! And Kalifornia used to be solid conservative. Back in 1960, California was 90percent White. Now its 40 percent Mexican, and polititians are scared to death of the Mexicans, lest they be called "racist". But now we have Presidente Jorge Bush to the rescue! He thinks that when he grants amnesty to 10 million more illegal Mexicans, and when they vote 20% for Republicans, and 80% for the Democrats, that the Republicans will once again assume power in Kalifornia! Ya know, I really think the Dems had a point when they call Bush an idiot!

[Torie]

If a rather liberal African American can win in Texas for the Senate, that will be quite amazing. It will show how fundamentally some things have changed. It will show that rather moderate Hispanics in Texas can congeal with African Americans, and that the now rather aged Yellow Dogs have expiated any tinge of racism they might have had. I don't believe it though, unless the GOP guy is highly defective.

[MissAmericanPie]

Bye bye Rick, we hardly knew you.

[mercy]

Yada yada yada. Texas is full of Americans of Mexican descent who don't even speak spanish. A huge percentage of them are not Catholic. They don't like wetbacks and they don't fall for all this race hustling. Perry will win by a huge margin. Texas and Californicate are universes apart.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Yeah, but only US citizens can vote.

[deport]

It will be interesting but I don't see Cronyn losing in the General.... Stranger things have happened but I don't think Kirk can pull it off. True there will be a statewide race for governor featuring a Hispanic, so if Kirk can really mobilize the African American vote then it may just happen.

[Lunatic Fringe]

True, Texas will remain a Republican state. But please be careful in your choice of words.

[meyer]

They're the key all right; the key is keeping the illegal ones from voting. In fact, the key is booting the illegals out.

[goody2shooz]

I'm with you on this issue. The Mexican-Americans will vote overwhelmingly vote Democratic. Senor Jorge Bush is wasting his political capital and endangering this nation.