Amy Taylor

Voters Reject Anti-immigrant Campaign Rhetoric

Across the country some tough-talking anti-immigrant candidates seem to have lost many tight races to their more moderate opponents on immigration reform. Although some immigration hardliners were successful in their campaigns, like Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee, the House Republican leadership's enforcement-only approach to immigration has been called into question by voters in some telling parts of the country. Last spring, the House of Representatives passed one of the most draconian immigration enforcement bills and yesterday Democrats won a majority in the House of Representatives signaling the possibility of change in the government's approach to the issue. A few key races are highlighted below.

In Arizona, immigration dominated the campaign trail. Although Republican Senator Jon Kyl seemes to have held onto his seat in a tough race against Democrat Jim Pederson, the Dems were more successful in their fight for the state's House seats. In the 8th Congressional district Republican Randy Graf made immigration the main issue of his campaign, supported heavily by funds from the Minutemen. He attacked his democratic opponent as a supporter of open borders and amnesty. Nonetheless, Gabrielle Giffords defeated Graf, and her alternative platform supporting comprehensive immigration reform was chosen by Arizona voters. In another close race in that state, Democrat Harry Mitchell, who supports comprehensive immigration reform but was also attacked by his opponent as "pro-amnesty", was elected by voters who rejected the tough-talking stance of the Republican candidate J.D. Hayworth.

In New Jersey, another very close race, Senator Robert Menendez emerged victorious over his Republican opponent Thomas H. Kean. The immigration issue played out in an interesting way here when Kean attacked Menendez for not being tough enough on immigration. Kean, who last spring publicly supported an earned path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, changed his tune as the election drew nearer and advocated for mass deportation, criminalizing undocumented status, and other hardline approaches.

In the closely watched race for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania incumbent Republican Senator Rick Santorum lost to Democrat Bob Casey, who is a strong advocate for the Senate's more comprehensive approach to immigration, which Santorum did not support last spring. In fact, Santorum attacked Casey for being an amnesty supporter, a tactic which did not win him the votes he needed to stay in office.

In a key race for the House in Colorado, voters chose Democrat Ed Perlmutter over his Republican opponent Rick O'Donnell. The two Colorado candidates' views on immigration could not have been farther apart. O'Donnell even called for a program where male high school seniors would forego their last semester of high school to serve on the border patrol where they would experience, in his words, a "society-wide rite of passage into manhood." O'Donnell had previously been on the record as a supporter of an "earn or return" policy where those here illegally but working would be able to gain legal status. During his campaign, he flip-flopped on the immigration issue and came out in support of mass deportation mocking Perlmutter for supporting "amnesty." Voters in Colorado's 7th district chose Perlmutter's more modest approach to immigration.

In a race to the Governor's mansion in Massachusetts, the Democratic candidate Deval L. Patrick beat the Republican candidate Kerry Healey who attacked her opponent for his support of driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and his support for more comprehensive reform. In that state, her tough talking around immigration, including her support for state police reporting of illegal immigrants to the federal government, could have lost her the race.

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Posted at 9:00 AM, Nov 08, 2006 in Immigration
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