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Press Release

Hispanic Friendly Candidates Prevail In Mid-Term Elections.
Historic marches followed up with Historic Hispanic Vote.

November 8, 2006

Contact: Lizette Jenness Olmos
(202) 833-6130 ext.16
LJOlmos@LULAC.org
 

Washington, DC--Yesterday's elections confirmed growing Hispanic political power in the United States with increased representation in Congress.

“We are very excited to see that we may now have an opportunity to pass meaningful comprehensive immigration reform, address negotiating Medicare Part D drug prices and raise the minimum wage among other key issues for Hispanics,” said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales. “The voters exercised their fundamental right to vote and chose change. Yesterday we marched, yesterday we voted and today we see change.”

More than half of voters said that they believe illegal immigrants working in the United States should be offered a chance to apply for legal status, a position that was supported by Bush but rejected by House Republicans who have pushed an enforcement-first approach to controlling illegal immigration. Democratic candidates won support from six in 10 of those who backed a path to citizenship, according to preliminary findings.

Latinos, meanwhile, made up less than 10 percent of the national electorate, and nearly three-quarters of them reported voting for Democrats.

Analysts explained that although the Latino vote in these elections does not surpass five million, it is of decisive importance in states where the contest is very close coming down to the issues.

For the Hispanic community, the largest minority group with a population of approximately 43 million, the time came to demonstrate their rejection of the anti-immigration policies of the Republicans as was seen with the defeat of Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth of Arizona, conservative anti-immigrant Congressional candidate Randy Graff in Arizona’s 8th district losing the election to the more moderate Democrat candidate Gabrielle Giffords and Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum losing to Democratic Congressional candidate Bob Casey.

Even some Hispanics, who had supported the Republicans, changed their vote to Democrat as protest for the betrayal of the GOP.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest and largest Hispanic civil rights organization in the United States. LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

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