Pat McDonough has been a Republican member of the Maryland General Assembly since 2003, and his core campaign message is clear: immigrants are not welcome.
Republicans are now desperately trying to run away from their current leaders and appeal to Latino voters in hopes that they ignore Republican leaders like Delegate McDonough. Fortunately, voters are smarter than the GOP gives them credit for, and Latino voters in particular have shown that no amount of pandering will make them forget the GOP's ongoing hostility to issues they care about.
Republicans know that they have a problem with Latino voters, and this problem will make it harder for Republicans to have electoral success from the presidency to state legislatures.
The numbers speak for themselves: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic population increased by 15.2 million people between 2000 and 2010 and accounted for more than half of the total U.S. population increase of 27.3 million.
And with their growing numbers, Latinos are growing in political clout, and Latino elected officials are overwhelming Democrats. Of the 257 total Latino members currently serving in state legislators, 205 of them are Democrats.
The overwhelming number of Latino elected leaders who are Democrats is a direct result of a backlash against years of Republican policies that were designed to hurt Latinos, backed by politicians like Del. McDonough who have used xenophobia as a core message in their campaigns. Democrats, meanwhile, have for years been advocating for policies that help Latinos.
Since gaining control of legislatures across the country in 2010 Republicans have pushed through legislation making it impossiblefor undocumented students to attend college, even if they pay tuition entirely out of their own pockets. They've repealedminimum wage laws that have a disproportionate impact among Latinos, while backinganti-immigrant policies around the United States, and they pushed through gerrymandered legislative districts that cut Latinos out of state representation.
Democrats, on the other hand, have been working on policies to help Latino students and families.
As for Delegate McDonough, he is still a proud member of the Republican Caucus in the Maryland House of Delegates.
Republicans are trying to have it both ways, but voters are smart enough to realize that pandering is not the same thing as an apology.