Did Hispanics save the Senate for Democrats?

Hispanic voters turned out in surprisingly large numbers in Tuesday's midterms, giving Democrats a boost in several key Western states. In fact, Hispanics angered over the GOP's hardline stand on immigration appear to have rescued Democratic senators from defeat in heavily Latino Nevada, California, and Colorado. One poll that covered Spanish speakers found that 90 percent of Hispanic voters backed Democrat Harry Reid in Nevada. Do the Democrats owe their hold on the Senate to Hispanic voters? (Watch a Fox Business discussion about Hispanics and the midterms)

Hispanics absolutely made the difference: These races were the Republicans' to lose, says Miguel Perez in the Paragould, Ariz., Daily Press. Arizona has the nation's worst unemployment, and Hispanic voters were angry at Harry Reid for failing to deliver immigration reform. The only reason we rushed, en masse, to the polls was to vote against the GOP's Sharron Angle, who ran "one of the most vicious anti-Hispanic campaigns in U.S. history."

"The wrath of Latino voters"

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It is a stretch to say Latinos saved Democrats: "Hispanics' resounding rejection of Angle should come as no surprise," says Arian Campo-Flores at Newsweek, after her airing of ads depicting illegal immigrants as "shady gangbangers." But it "may be overstating things" to say Latino voters "saved the Senate" for Democrats. Hispanic voters may simply have represented a bigger percentage of the total than in previous elections because their population is "booming."

"Did Hispanics save Harry Reid?"

This is hardly something for Democrats to brag about: The way Harry Reid won stinks, says Michelle Malkin in her blog. Every poll showed Sharron Angle ahead, then non-assimilated, Spanish-speaking immigrants "miraculously" appear at the polls to make sure their favorite "open-borders panderer" stays in office. This is exactly why we need tighter border controls — so people like Harry Reid can't buy votes with promises of "shamnesty."

"Harry Reid’s non-English-speaking voting bloc"