Hispanics better off with GOP in Texas

Jared Woodfill:

During the past few weeks, the Chronicle has published several articles criticizing the Republican Party's relationship with the Hispanic community, including Lisa Falkenberg's column "GOP not so grand to all" and Richard Dunham's news story "GOP losing support with Hispanic voters."

Noticeably absent from the articles is any mention of the major gains for Hispanics that have occurred in Texas as a result of Republican leadership.

Since Republicans became the majority in 1994, eight minority Texans have held statewide office. During the Democrats' 122 years in the majority, only four minority Texans held statewide office. It took Democrats 114 years to elect a Hispanic to statewide office. The Democrats later tried to defeat him because he was too conservative.

Under a Republican majority, five Republican Hispanics have held statewide office since 1994.

None of these statistics were reflected in the Chronicle articles. I'm sure that millions of Hispanics who believe in a strong military, a strong economy and strong family values reject the abandonment philosophy articulated by some of our critics.

The articles quote a few individuals who criticize the GOP's efforts in the Hispanic community. Again, conspicuously absent are the views of many leading Hispanic Republicans who probably do not share the opinions of those quoted. For example, Supreme Court Justice David Medina, a Republican appointed by Gov. Rick Perry and re-elected to the Texas Supreme Court, probably has a different opinion of the Republican Party. I know that Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez, a Hispanic Republican who was endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party in his two bids for mayor of Houston and his successful election to the Harris County Treasurer's post last year, holds a different view. Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo, a Hispanic Republican appointed by Gov. Perry, probably has a different view. I'm sure that Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza, a Hispanic Republican who previously served on the Texas Railroad Commission and as Texas secretary of state, has a different position. I'm quite sure that U.S. Attorney General Al Gonzales holds a different view. And I know that Harris County Republican judges David Bernal, Reece Rondon, Eva Guzman, Elsa Alcala, Vanessa Velasquez and a multitude of other Hispanic Republican judges and elected officials in Harris County and across the state disagree with the criticisms leveled in the articles.

As the chairman of the Harris County Republican Party, and the husband of a Hispanic woman, I can assure you that the Harris County Republican Party, like the Republican Party of Texas, welcomes, wants and needs the Hispanic community. I further believe that the Republican Party's positions are consistent with these goals.

Yes, our party does believe that our borders should be secured. However, this position does not make us anti-Hispanic. Yes, the Republican Party supports legal immigration and the rule of law. This, too, does not make us anti-Hispanic. In fact, the local party continues to grow in the Hispanic community, participating in its fourth annual bike program and Thanksgiving celebration at J.R. Harris Elementary (a Title I school that is 95 percent Hispanic), recruiting precinct chairs in areas that are predominantly Hispanic, supporting conservative Hispanic Republican candidates, and moving forward with a party headquarters on the east side of town.

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There seems to be an assumption that Hispanics are not interested in the rule of law and that they favor illegal immigration. Hispanics have more opportunity within the Republican party than they ever had as Democrats and there is no reason to believe that should change just because Republicans want to enforce the law.

Hispanics should also note the shabby treatment that Democrats gave the first Hispanic Attorney General. His treatment by Democrats was for more disrespectful and demeaning than a policy that supports the rule of law. Republicans have a strong case to make to Hispanic voters and it is good to see the Harris County chairman is ready to make that case.