Poll: Hispanics' support for GOP wanes
By BRIAN TUMULTY
WASHINGTON BUREAU
(Original publication: December 7, 2007)
WASHINGTON - The anti-immigrant fervor among Republican lawmakers has eroded the party's gains with Hispanic voters and will help Democrats in the 2008 election, according to a study released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center.
Hispanics view Democrats as more concerned about their problems, with 57 percent who are registered voters identifying as Democrats and 23 percent as Republicans, according to the survey.
A similar survey by Pew in 2006 showed 49 percent identified as Democrats and 28 percent considered themselves Republicans.
Paul Taylor, acting director of the Pew Hispanic Center, said the 2006 election was the high water mark for Republicans among Hispanic voters.
Republicans made gains among Hispanics after President Bush's election in 2000. More recently, Bush's effort to provide a path to citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants was defeated by members of his own party, which hurt their standing among Hispanics.
Robin Bikkal, an immigration attorney in White Plains who heads the Westchester County Hispanic Advisory Board, said that change in sentiment helped Democrats win last month in local elections, including the mayoral race in Peekskill.
"I don't know if they feel betrayed by Republicans, but they have no hope for any kind of fair immigration reform under Republican leadership," said Bikkal, who is active in the Democratic Party.
Among Hispanics who identified themselves as Democratic voters, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the preferred choice for president of 58 percent, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama second with 13 percent and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson at 9 percent.
Only 15 percent of those surveyed identified Richardson, whose is half-Mexican, as Hispanic.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has been criticized by rival Mitt Romney for running what he describes as a "sanctuary city" for immigrants, is the preferred candidate among Hispanics who vote Republican, the Pew survey found, with support among 29 percent. Arizona Sen. John McCain ranked second at 12 percent and Romney had the support of 3 percent.
Although Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States at 46 million, or 15 percent of the population, they make up only 6 percent of registered voters.
Despite those low registration numbers nationally, Hispanic voters are expected to play a key role in four presidential battleground states - Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico - that Bush won by 5 percentage points or less in 2004, Taylor said.
The survey questioned 2,003 Hispanics by telephone Oct. 3 to Nov. 9 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
Reach Brian Tumulty at btumulty@gns.gannett.com
