Abbott reaches out to Hispanics

Texas Tribune:

With his wife and in-laws standing on the stage, Attorney General Greg Abbott last week highlighted his ties to the Hispanic community as he announced his gubernatorial campaign in San Antonio.

Abbott talked about his wife’s Hispanic heritage and said he’s grown to understand that culture during their 31-year marriage.

“It was a joining of hands, but it was also a joining of families,” he said. “But more important than our marriage was a uniting of cultures: my Anglo heritage and Cecilia’s Irish and Hispanic heritage."

The Abbott campaign is courting the Hispanic vote in a state that remains reliably Republican despite a growing minority population that tends to identify with the Democratic Party. It's a strategy the GOP in Texas is trying to implement on a larger scale, touting the party's emphasis on conservative social values. But Democrats in Texas say that the party has missed the mark with Hispanic voters and that the new gubernatorial candidate is no different.

The event in San Antonio marked the start of Abbott's campaign tour, which also featured stops in the border towns of El Paso and McAllen — in an apparent attempt to reach Hispanic voters.

Linda Vega, founder of Latinos Ready to Vote, called the approach "positive conservatism."

Abbott represents a different type of Republican, one who embraces policies that benefit the state rather than merely supporting policies along partisan lines, Vega said during Abbott’s event in San Antonio.

Former state Rep. Aaron Peña — a Democrat who switched to the Republican Party in 2010 — said the Abbott campaign would set a new standard of Latino involvement not simply because of the candidate's wife’s heritage but because she has helped him foster a relationship with the Hispanic community during their three decades of marriage.

“He has come to understand the Latino perspective,” Peña said. “In his heart, he wants to make significant outreach to make sure Hispanics have a seat at the table in terms of determining the leaders of the state.”

Abbott’s efforts to reach Hispanic voters are part of a larger strategy of the Texas GOP. This year, the Republican Party of Texas will open its "victory centers" earlier than during previous election cycles to focus on voter registration and identification among minority groups and others who don’t typically vote Republican, party chairman Steve Munisteri has said.
...

Texas Hispanics are more open to Republican politics.  There are already several Hispanic Republican office holders.  There appears to be a growing reality among Texas Hispanics that liberalism is antithetical to their interest.  During the abortion debate several Hispanic Democrats crossover and voted for the new abortion restrictions.  There are some majority Hispanic Districts that have voted in Republican Anglos because of the Obamacare push on abortifacts.