Pro-amnesty organizations are campaigning heavily for Democrat Terry McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and a close ally of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Virginia’s gubernatorial election on Tuesday.
“Latino groups are intensifying get-out-the-vote efforts in the Virginia governor’s race against a national backdrop of a congressional struggle over immigration reform,” NBC News Latino reports. “The groups said Thursday immigration reform is a critical issue on which candidates will be measured by Latino voters in the race.
As the groups work to have a strong showing of Latino turnout in Tuesday’s race, pressure has intensified on House Republicans to move immigration reform legislation in the waning days of this congressional year. That has helped keep the issue in the forefront as the Virginia candidates head to Election Day and groups try to turn out Latino voters in the state, home to the 16th largest population of Hispanic-eligible voters.”
NBC Latino quotes the National Council of La Raza Action Fund’s executive director Matthew McClellan who said his group and others are organizing 75,000 phone calls on behalf of McAuliffe and conducting door-to-door get-out-the-vote efforts, running ads in Spanish-language media and sending direct mail to more than 27,000 homes. “The Latino community is tired of talk and demanding action,” McClellan said. “Saying the right thing is not enough and we will be looking for action after is over.”
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement executive director Hector Sanchez called on Hispanics who want comprehensive immigration reform to show up at the polls for McAuliffe. “It’s very important for everyone to turn out to the polls, to analyze where those candidates are and make sure those candidates are representing Latinos on issues that are critical for the community,” Sanchez said.
They are specifically pushing DREAM Act proposals, ones that would grant amnesty to young illegal immigrants who crossed the border or entered or stayed in the country illegally before they became adults. Ken Cuccinelli, the GOP candidate running against McAuliffe, opposes amnesty and DREAM Act proposals.
No matter the result, these leftwing groups and others are likely to try to extrapolate the election results in Virginia to fit their national agenda, as both House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) are from the Commonwealth. Cantor and Goodlatte are key players in the immigration debate, and both thus far remain publicly open to attempts from House GOP leadership to go to a conference committee to negotiate with the Senate and its “Gang of Eight” immigration bill. Cantor and Goodlatte remain open to such efforts despite the fact that the Senate bill’s key GOP sponsor, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), has publicly come out against such efforts