Representative Luis Gutiérrez (D., Ill.) predicted that two million new Latino voters would swamp the Republican Party when he was asked about the 2014 midterms.
Gutiérrez said that the Republican response to the border crisis would “energize” Latinos.
“Larry, 900,000 Latinos, American citizens, turn 18 every year,” Gutiérrez told Larry King on Ora.tv. “Two million more Latinos voted in two o’eight [2008] than two o’four [2004]. Two million more voted in two twelve [2012] than two o’eight [2008]. They voted resoundingly for the Democratic Party. I think the Republican Party should take heed that those people are registering. You’re encouraging and motivating them to register to protect people much like them. Look, Larry, if you talk about people crossing the border and talk about them as being invaders to this country, I think they might all decide you just don’t like them.”
Gutiérrez has done what he can to help Latinos make that decision. “[Republicans] want to punish our community, and that punishment will be met with an electoral punishment,” he said in Spanish-language remarks during the border-crisis debate. “Be assured that we are not going to forget the mistreatment our community has received.”