Texas GOP Adopts Anti-Immigrant Platform, CA GOP Candidate Losing Latino Support

Washington D.C. – Last week, at the Texas Republican state convention, red meat Republican activists adopted a hard line approach to immigration that even Republican Governor Rick Perry has said isn’t right for Texas. The Republican Party platform is a blueprint of the policies that GOP activists want elected officials to pursue. Attendees voted to include a plank for a state law that would ban illegal immigrants from “intentionally” or “knowingly” living in Texas. Like Arizona’s harsh immigration law, the Texas GOP proposal would require local law enforcement to verify legal residency when making arrests. Governor Perry said that Arizona’s approach would unfairly burden local Texas law enforcement.

Just like Arizona’s failed policy, the Texas GOP blueprint will not solve our broken immigration system and none of them will remove the incentives that fuel illegal immigration. What these proposals are sure to do, however, is drive Latino voters to the Democratic Party. According to data released this week by Public Policy Polling, GOP candidates are suffering a backlash as a result of the passage and advocacy of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law. According to the polling:

“Our poll of the Texas Governor’s race this week is another data point indicating possible backlash for Republican candidates this fall in the wake of the Arizona immigration law. When we polled the race in Februrary Rick Perry led Bill White by 6 points. The race is tied now, and the movement since the previous poll has come completely with Hispanic voters. With white voters Perry led 54-35 then and leads 55-35 now. With black voters White led 81-12 then and leads 70-7 now. But with Hispanics Perry has gone from leading 53-41 in February to now trailing 55-21. And it’s not that the sample of Hispanic voters we interviewed for this poll was somehow fundamentally different from the previous one- Barack Obama’s approval with them on this poll was 49% compared to 47% on the previous Texas poll… There’s no doubt the immigration bill is popular nationally. But if it causes Hispanics to change their voting behavior without a parallel shift among whites then it’s going to end up playing to Democratic advantage this fall.”

A Democrat has not won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, and a win by former Houston Mayor Bill White would be a political earthquake with national implications. The GOP demonizes immigrants at their peril. Immigration has become a litmus test issue for Latino voters and they are poised to make the difference in a pivotal race. It’s not just in Texas. Races in the West, where Arizona’s law is motivating Latinos to turnout for the midterm elections, Public Policy Polling conducted a survey in late May that indicated that Hispanics in the Mountain West have swung dramatically towards the Democrats:

“When we polled Colorado in early March Michael Bennet and Jane Norton were tied. Last week we found Bennet with a 3 point lead. One of the biggest reasons for that shift? Bennet went from leading Norton by 12 points with Hispanic voters to a 21 point advantage. That large shift in a Democratic direction among Hispanics mirrors what we saw in our Arizona Senate polling last month- Rodney Glassman went from trailing John McCain by 17 points with them in September to now holding a 17 point lead…Hispanics in the Mountain West are leaning much more strongly toward the Democrats since the Arizona law was passed. The big question then becomes whether there are white voters who are going to go Republican this fall who wouldn’t have if that bill hadn’t been passed. We don’t see any evidence of that happening yet.”

In California, GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman won the Republican primary parroting get tough on immigration rhetoric and showcasing anti-immigrant former Governor Pete Wilson. Now, with polling showing her campaign hemorrhaging Latino support in a general election match up versus Democratic nominee Jerry Brown, she has changed her tune. She’s up with two new ads that say she “opposed” Arizona’s law.

“Whitman has a long way to go in cultivating this segment of the electorate. A Public Policy Institute of California poll found that Latino support for Whitman in a match-up with Brown dropped from 35 percent to 26 percent from March to May—after she ratcheted up her rhetoric on immigration.”

“If the GOP hopes to ensure its viability as a national party, they must confront the rabid anti-immigrant element of their base,” said Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum and Chair of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign. “The Texas GOP platform may help some candidates win party primaries, but it will be an anchor around candidates statewide. To his credit, Governor Perry said Arizona’s approach isn’t right for Texas, but it may be too late. Voters know which party is responsible for laws like Arizona’s discriminatory law and the Republican Party risks a permanent – and electorally deadly – label as anti-immigrant and anti-Latino.”

###

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN: The Reform Immigration FOR America campaign is a coalition of more than 800 faith, labor, business, progressive, and immigration reform groups that have joined together to get comprehensive immigration reform passed. For more information please visit www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org or www.reformamigratoriaproamerica.org.