Latino Voters Bring Victory to Texas DemocratsPaul Hogarthbyline‚ Dec. 14‚ 2006Democrat Ciro Rodriguez’s upset victory over Republican Congressman Henry Bonilla in the December 12th run-off election has huge national implications – in light of this year’s massive immigration protests. What it demonstrated, more than anything else, is how Latinos are leaving the Republican Party in droves. While it was also an embarrassing set-back for Tom DeLay’s partisan re-districting shenanigans, Bonilla did not just lose because the 23rd Congressional District in Texas was re-drawn to be more Democratic and more Latino. Bonilla lost ground in parts of the District that he had represented for 14 years because of his association with a party that scapegoats immigrants, opposes basic economic justice, and sends low-income minority children off to Iraq. As Latinos continue to be the fastest growing voting demographic in the country, the Republican Party must stop their immigrant-bashing, or follow the way of the Whigs. In the end, the last (non-Cuban) Latino Republican in Congress lost re-election by a 54-45 margin to an under-funded Democratic challenger who had a reputation as a weak campaigner. |