Guest Column
Hispanics can feel right at home in the Texas GOP
By Jared Woodfill
Houston Chronicle
September. 13, 2007
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.
Some Democrats will continue to play the politics of division. However,
I believe that principles will continue to unite our party with the
Hispanic community. Republican values of faith, family and freedom are
Hispanic values. It is these values that will continue to unite the
Republican Party and the Hispanic community.
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Woodfill is chairman of the Harris County Republican Party.
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed by HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com) without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)