[CedarDave]

A few weeks ago I did a county-by-county analysis of Steve's win. Here are the results:

In New Mexico, Congressional district 2 occupies the southern half of the state. The boundary is a slightly WNW-ESE line south of the I-40 corridor (south of Gallup, ABQ, Santa Rosa, Clovis). Republican registration is 34%. The area includes lots of Latino voters, the oil and gas fields, Mexican border counties and rural ranchers.

Tea-party conservative Steve Pearce won re-election with 59.2% of the vote not only in the oil patch but in most counties too (The Democratic candidate was Evelyn Madrid Erhard). I'm not sure of his secret (besides hard work) but the GOPe needs to emulate this for future victories.

Democratic counties and percentages:

• Bernalillo 45-54
• Cibola 49-50
• Dona Ana 47-52
• Grant 48-51
• Guadalupe 44-55
• Luna 49-50
• McKinley 49-50

Republican counties and percentages:

• Catron 74-25
• Chaves 68-31
• DeBaca 72-27
• Eddy 67-32
• Hidalgo 60-39
• Lea 79-20
• Lincoln 71-27
• Otero 65-33
• Roosevelt 79-19
• Sierra 64-35
• Socorro 56-42
• Valencia 56-42

One more thing -- Lea, Eddy and Chaves counties make up SE NM Oil Patch - jobs are plentiful, "help wanted" signs everywhere, and skills bring a premium salary and benefits. These folks vote to protect their jobs and are rightfully wary of what Obama will do to shut down their livelihood.

On the other hand majority-Hispanic counties in NM-3 (from District 1 due-north to the Colorado border) voted 79%-83% for the Democratic candidate, Ray Lujan. They have been the recipient of years of government largesse, especially since the rabid enviros in Santa Fe and elsewhere shut down mining, lumbering and other natural resource extraction. Interestingly, the Navajo's in the four-corners region did not necessarily vote for the Dems as many are employed in coal mining or as power plant workers. They, too, realize their jobs are on the line as a result of a second-term Obama administration.

[9YearLurker]

I take it that his secret is the same as Gov. Martinez’s secret—being pro-amnesty.

That position might help an individual pol in a Hispanic-heavy district or state, but it would or will be the death of conservatism and the GOP nationwide, where the policy can be fully implemented.

We need to look at their positions as cautionary tales, not examples to follow.

[traditional1]

How to get Illigal Latinos to vote Republican?

Simple....remove ALL entitlements to non-U.S.Citizens.

Step 2...any U.S. Citizen who identifies an Illegal collects a Bounty of $1000, and the Illegal is Deported immmediately, no delays whatsoever.

Step 3...Depositing a baby while Illegally in the USA does NOT confer Automatic U.S. Citizenship; it simply is another Foreigner's off-spring, and Citizen of that Motherland, NOT a burden to be placed on U.S. Taxpayers.

[ilgipper]

#1 is don’t let your opponent define YOU. Our side sits on it’s hands and thinks three weeks of heavy ad spend right before an election will undo several years of 24/7 propaganda. It doesn’t. Even when we have won in the past decade and a half it is by a thin margin due to this fact. We have to start playing the game by today’s rules with internet advertising, education, idea outreach 365 days a year.

Bottom line, I don’t think Romney lost Latinos for any other reason than that too many thought he was a rich guy who didn’t care about them.

[Dr. Ursus]

We spent forty years saying why don’t blacks like us.Now,you can substitute Hispanics in the same scenarios.
They vote their own self interests.If the dumb white Dems
did the same thing,we wouldn’t have to worry about this
crap!

[CedarDave]

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[txrefugee]

The ticket to buy Mexican love: amnesty and free stuff for anyone who can buy or walk their way over the border.

[blueunicorn6]

I vote to change our name to Mexico.

[AuH2ORepublican]

“Interestingly, the Navajo’s in the four-corners region did not necessarily vote for the Dems as many are employed in coal mining or as power plant workers. They, too, realize their jobs are on the line as a result of a second-term Obama administration.”

---

Are you sure about that? Apache County, AZ, which is 72% Native American and where almost all Native Americans are Navajos (that’s where most of the Navajo reservation land in AZ is located—ironically, next-door Navajo County is where most Hopis live), voted 66.16% for Obama in 2012, up from 63.19% in 2008 (and with higher turnout). And McKinley County, NM (75% Native American and mostly Navajo) gave Obama 72.08% in 2012, up slightly from 71.41% in 2008. So I think that the Navajos voted just as strongly Democrat as ever, and likely even more heavily Democrat than before.

[norton]

First thing 'pubs need to do is force the debate to separate 'immigrant' and 'illegal immigrant'. They've let the left frame itself as nice to people from other places while conservatives hate anyone who isn't white 'like them'.

It is also true, as the article states, that huge numbers of mexicans come here to set themselves up for a comfy return home after some number of years. So be it. A temporary worker program that included controls and reasonable taxes on funds exported prior to the worker's return home - and that the US actually enforced - could work for all concerned.

It is the illegal border crosser that should be targeted, particularly if there are ways to legally come here and work. The first obligation should be to respect our laws!

No anchor babies...if someone was carried here as a child let them prove in court how they will contribute to American siciety (work and contribute, not just reside) to support a petition for a work permit and eventually for citizenship if hey stay clean. No other exceptions, including 'family unification' bogus marriages, fear of actually being mexican, or 12 years of tax funded lower eduction. Then, of course, ENFORCE the rules.

[GeronL]

guest worker program.... because we have too many jobs in America?

How about we make illegal aliens not able to get any type of welfare, no schools, no nothing.

There is already a path to citizenship and legal residency, there is already a guest worker program (ever heard of work visas??)

[zeestephen]

Re: “ GOP Gov. Susana Martinez has plenty to say about the Republican Party and Hispanic politics.”

I read the entire editorial.

It omitted one key fact.

Anyone here like to guess how Gov. Martinez did with Hispanic voters in 2010?

61% voted AGAINST her!

She has Mexican heritage on BOTH sides of her family, she's giving advice to the GOP, and 61% of Hispanics voted against her!

There is one - and only one - thing going on here.

Except for Cubans, most Hispanics are Socialists.

They will NEVER vote in large numbers for Conservatives.

[rfp1234]

El grande barile de puerco?

[cookcounty]

Pearce has long favored implementing a guest worker program that would allow immigrants to come to the U.S., work and make money and then return home."

Pretty much everybody agrees with that. We already have a guest worker program, but nobody uses it, because there is no reason to.

[Aetius]

What ‘anti-immigrant rhetoric’ is Martinez talking about? We always hear this nonsense, but where are the examples? Of course people who utter this garbage (like Martinez) know that they won’t get asked to provide examples and to prove their accusations. They say this crap confident that no one in the media will call them on it.

The truth is something quite different. Republicans usually go out of their way to offer up nauseating praise of immigrants and immigration before stating opposition to amnesty. Just think of how dolt Sean Hannity talks about how much he loves legal immigration. This is likely a futile attempt to head off the inevitable and bogus charges of racism, xenophobia, and of being anti-immigrant.

The frightening thing is that the Left is so thoroughly winning the language war and the the ability to set the parameters of debate. We are now to the point where even allegedly conservative Republicans parrot baseless, mindless leftwing talking points. I mean, Romney is taking all sorts of flack for being a hardliner on immigration; it’s maddening because he wasn’t even close to being that. He backed away from his primary talk, refused to say he’d reverse Obama’s executive amnesty for young illegal aliens, and repeatedly said he’d like to increase legal immigration. That is a hardliner?

Imagine the demagoguery that would greet a Republican who actually championed conservative immigration reform (i.e. no path to citizenship for illegals and large reductions in legal immigration). What would Governor Martinez say about that?