Deeds seeks to shore up Hispanic vote
By: David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
October 25, 2009
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds sought to rally Latina voters on Saturday as his campaign gears up for the final sprint to the Nov. 3 election.
Deeds' campaign organized a handful of events across the state billed as opportunities for Latinas to rally support for the Democratic candidate. Anne Holton, First Lady of Virginia, was among the volunteers cheering on campaign workers at Caribbean Breeze restaurant in Arlington Saturday morning.
The differences between Deeds and his opponent, Republican Bob McDonnell, "could not be more stark," Holton told a group of supporters in Arlington.
"There's nothing [done] about this election yet," she said. "Work, work, work - 10 days!"
The Hispanic population is one of the fastest-growing groups in the Commonwealth, and President Obama won nearly two-thirds of the state's Hispanic vote in the 2008 presidential election, according to exit polls. Deeds recently picked up the endorsement of the Washington Hispanic, the biggest Hispanic newspaper serving D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
One issue on which Deeds and his opponent, Republican Bob McDonnell, differ is immigration - a hot topic for Latino voters. McDonnell told Examiner editors and reporters last month that he would support expanding a federal immigration enforcement program currently used by Prince William and Loudoun counties statewide.
The program, known as 287(g), deputizes local law enforcement officials to enforce certain federal immigration laws.
Deeds spokesman Jared Leopold said Deeds would oppose a statewide program that would force local governments to pay for what he said was a federal responsibility.
Deeds himself was scheduled to spend Saturday with Va. Senator Mark Warner at campaign stops in Lynchburg, Roanoke, Radford and Blacksburg. The state senator is also set for a make-or-break Tuesday appearance with President Obama at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.
