Triangle, VA – Pro-immigrant Republican organization tonight reacted to the New Jersey and Virginia governor races.
Bob Quasius, founder and president of Cafe Con Leche Republicans, formerly of NJ, stated “Chris Christie ran a strong campaign that stressed Reagan’s big tent, particularly among Latinos, and tonight’s resounding victory underscores the importance. Chris Christie has demonstrated that Republicans can win the Latino vote, something we’ve been saying now for years. Christie truly ‘gets it’ when it comes to Latinos, and his engagement is a model for other candidates to follow.”
Rafael Lopez, Virginia state leader, added “Ken Cuccinelli fared poorly among Latinos due to his history of supporting legislation that is un-friendly and in direct opposition to the interest of Latinos such as taking away the U.S. citizenship of children born to undocumented immigrants, punishing immigrants for speaking another language in the work-place, and also due to some unfortunate remarks in a 2012 radio interview. When he was talking about pest control Cuccinelli said “It is worse than our immigration policy. You can’t break up rat families . . . and you can’t even kill ’em.” The remarks were taken out of context, but created an opening for Democrats to demagogue Cuccinelli with Latino voters.”
Lopez continued “When engagement with these groups is weak, Democrats are able to exploit the GOP candidate’s legislative history and unfortunate remarks to redefine Republicans as a whole. Ken Cuccinelli is not anti-immigrant or anti-Latino, but his support of controversial measures coupled with his poor rhetoric regarding immigrants and immigration allowed the Democrats to define him as a candidate who stands in opposition to Latino interests. He was perceived that way, and in politics perception becomes reality. Stupid is letting your opposition define you, and Republicans need to bolster engagement and avoid divisive rhetoric to counteract that.”
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About Us – Cafe Con Leche Republicans is a national organization of Republicans who welcome “New Americans”, defined as immigrants and family of recent immigrants. Our mission is to make America and the GOP, more welcoming to “New Immigrants” through political activism, “in-reach” and education within the Republican Party, and lobbying government to adopt more immigrant friendly policies. We also seek to bring more conservative and moderate “New Americans” to the Republican Party. These efforts will strengthen the GOP, and lead more Republicans to embrace welcoming policies for immigrants and their families. We have members nationwide, with chapters in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and California. Our members and leadership are predominantly Hispanic, though we define ourselves by mission and guiding principles, not ethnicity, and we welcome all who share our goals. Our leadership is 100% Republican.
