DALLAS (Mercedes
Olivera, Dallas
News) November 24,
2007 We're less
than a year away
from the 2008
general election,
but already national
Hispanic
organizations are
mobilizing to set a
record for turnout
among Hispanic
voters come next
November.
It won't be
difficult.
Education, health
care and the Iraq
war are important to
Hispanics. But
immigration has
become an equally
important issue that
will drive many to
the polls this year
for the first time.
And in one key
statewide race in
Texas, in
particular, it's an
issue that could end
up playing a major
role in re-electing
a senator or in
sending the first
Hispanic from Texas
to the U.S. Senate.
"We're definitely
getting the sense
that the Hispanic
community is
energized to vote,"
said Ali Jost,
spokeswoman for the
Mi Familia Vota
campaign.
Mi Familia Vota, an
arm of the Service
Employees
International Union,
is partnering with
the National
Association of
Hispanic Elected and
Appointed Officials,
the National Council
of La Raza,
Univision,
Entravision
Communications and
ImpreMedia on a
national
get-out-the-vote
campaign the
second part of a
two-pronged strategy
to make Hispanics more
civically involved.
The campaign, called
Ya Es Hora, Ve y
Vota! (It's Time, Go
Vote!), is working
with local
organizations to get
out the vote.
But the first part
of the strategy
moving residents to
get their
citizenship is
well under way. As
of August, the U.S.
Bureau of
Citizenship and
Immigration Services
had been deluged
with more than
940,000 citizenship
applications.
Many have applied
for citizenship
because they're
feeling the heat
from the
anti-illegal
immigrant rhetoric
that has flooded the
media and
cyberspace. They
want to protect
their families, and
they believe that
becoming naturalized
is their only option
to do so.
"It's largely due to
immigration, yes,"
Ms. Jost said. "But
it's also a coming
of age. Many of them
have been here long
enough. They know
this is their home.
They're not going
back."
State Rep. Rafael
Anchνa of Dallas,
who chairs the NALEO
Educational Fund
board of directors,
said he believed the
coalition would
reach its goal of 1
million new voters.
"NALEO is predicting
that the 2008
turnout among
Hispanics will shatter
the previous record
set in 2004, when
7.5 million
Hispanics
voted," he said.
"Many of these will
come from key
battleground states
in the Southwest,"
like New Mexico and
Arizona.
Texas is not yet a
battleground state
for presidential
politics, but a
strong Hispanic
candidate for the
U.S. Senate could
motivate them to go
to the polls. And
some say that
candidate is Rick
Noriega. Mr. Noriega
has announced he
will run in the
Democratic primary
for the Senate. And
he's getting a lot
of support from some
high-powered
Hispanic Republicans
upset with U.S. Sen.
John Cornyn.
The Hispanic
Republicans believe
that Mr. Cornyn has
abandoned them and
that his positions
on immigration have
been inconsistent.
First, he opposed a
physical border
fence, and then he
voted for 700 miles
of border fencing
last year. In May,
he supported an
amendment to use a
virtual fence and
then voted against
the amendment in
June.
He also said he
supported the
bipartisan-sponsored
legislation known as
the Dream Act, which
would have given
undocumented
immigrant children a
path to
legalization. Then
he voted against it.
Massey Villareal, a
longtime Republican
Hispanic business
leader from Houston,
has come out in
support of Mr.
Noriega and is
urging all his
friends to do the
same.
Mr. Villareal, a
former chairman of
the U.S. Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce,
sits on Mitt
Romney's national
campaign and is a
strong supporter of
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison.
"I cannot ask people
to vote for Cornyn,"
Mr. Villareal said.
"He's my friend. But
he doesn't represent
my interests or my
community."
