Georgia: Immigration is top issue in 'very red' state

By Kara Andrade

Voter turnout in Georgia on Super Tuesday could reach as much as 40 percent, estimated Matt Carrothers, spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel. That would be the highest turnout since [1988], the last time Georgia saw such a strongly contested primary.

In a state that Sadie Fields, state chair of Georgia Christian Alliance, considers "a very red state, that has been able to hold to that conservatism," some of the leading concerns are illegal immigration, the slowing economy and the war in Iraq.

Anti-immigrant sentiment across the state will affect the more than 100,000 Latino voters, said Jerry Gonzalez, director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, a non-profit which has been leading voter registration drives for Latino involvement the last several years.

"It's pretty common knowledge that the Republican Party in Georgia has engaged in the scapegoating of Latino immigrants both at state and congressional levels, so they have made it abundantly clear on where they stand as far as immigration," Gonzalez said.

The language barrier is also a big issue for Latinos because many prefer to get information in Spanish. Gonzalez said his organization will provide a bilingual hot line since the state of Georgia does not, to inform voters about candidates and propositions in Spanish.

Fields said the Republican race is very open and divided, and with a high level of skepticism regarding McCain. "At a time of uncertainty we need someone there who is dependable and reliable and not someone who have to wonder where's he going, what's he doing," she said.

While Obama appears to be favored among Democrats, there's a difference between Georgia supporting Obama now and Georgia carrying a Democrat in November, said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia. "There's strong support for him now; Obama is getting a third of the white vote, many being young voters and urban voters, but old white guys living on the farm aren't voting for Obama."

While the Latino vote will make a difference, Bullock said, it would have to be a close race for Latinos to make a difference. There are currently three Latinos in the state Legislature and they are Republicans.

American Community Survey, Demographics for Georgia 2006

Key interests:

African Americans

- Mortgages, access to the finance industry
- K-12 education, funding
- Health care: available services, access, affordability

Latinos

- Anti-immigration laws
- Access to education
- Employment
- War in Iraq

Whites

-Economic security
-Immigration
-Mortgage crisis
-War on Iraq