Hispanics Saved the Dems

Luis Gutierrez is pushing Harry Reid today to return to immigration legislation, on the grounds that Hispanic voters saved his hide.

Reid got an amazing 90% of the state’s 12% Hispanic voters, according to exit polls; Sharron Angle got just 8%.

{snip} Hispanics make up over a third of the California electorate, and Meg Whitman’s dismal peformance–she got just 31% of the vote–gave Jerry Brown his margin. Carly Fiorina got just 28%.

And Hispanic candidates out West didn’t make much difference for Republicans. Brian Sandoval did better than Angle, but wound up with a mere 33% of the Hispanic vote in Nevada. Similar stats for New Mexico aren’t available, but regional patterns suggest that Susanna Martinez didn’t break the trend.

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{snip} It’s more a sign that many Hispanic voters simply can’t bring themselves to vote for a Republican, whether a hard-liner like Angle or one straining to present herself as moderate.

It’s a problem the GOP hasn’t solved, and one that cost them the majority in a wave year.