Hispanic Media Size Up Election Results: Litmus Test for Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

SAN FRANCISCO--Hispanic media and other close observers of Latino affairs are reading Tuesday's elections as a barometer of the public's views on immigration and Latinos' ability to show their power at the polls.

Some in the media say there is no question that the anti-immigrant backlash is alive and well. Others predict the anti-immigration tactic could backfire and Republicans could lose votes from the growing and coveted Latino electorate.

In the closely watched special House race in San Diego to replace convicted former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Republican Brian Bilbray, running on an anti-immigrant platform, narrowly beat Democratic challenger Francine Busby (with 49 percent to 45 percent of the vote). The two candidates will face off again in November to compete for a full two-year term.

The winner, Republican Brian Bilbray, "ran his entire campaign on (the issue of) illegal immigration," says reporter Hiram Soto of Enlace, the San Diego Union Tribune's Spanish-language newspaper. "It was a test to see if the anti-immigrant stance will bring you votes."

Daniel Muñoz, editor of the bilingual newspaper La Prensa San Diego, says, "Republicans have lost their way" by taking an anti-immigrant position. "It's not the rallying cry they think it is."

But Republicans are reading the San Diego election as a sign that Bilbray's anti-immigrant platform helped him win -- a claim that the candidate himself made -- and may replicate it in other areas.

"The results (of the San Diego election) will give those who want draconian legislation some momentum, and that could affect the House and Senate," says Hispanic pollster Sergio Bendixen. "This would make the House more unlikely to compromise with the Senate, and the result would be a deadlock," he says. Congress would then be unable to agree on any immigration reform bill.

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