Immigrant Issue Can’t Save Republicans

For the second time in as many years, immigration has fizzled as a wedge issue at the polls. In 2006, Republicans hoped to use anger over illegal immigration to maintain control of Congress, but failed miserably, losing races even in states like Arizona and Colorado that have experienced large influxes of illegal aliens.

This year, Virginia Republicans tried the same maneuver in state races, with the same results. The Virginia GOP lost control of the state Senate in Tuesday’s election, with Democrats winning four additional seats in the Senate and netting an additional three in the House of Delegates, despite efforts to rile up voters on the illegal immigration front. In both cases, other issues dominated the election, and there simply weren’t enough voters for whom immigration was the No. 1 issue to roll back an increasingly Democratic electoral tide.”*

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