Cafe Con Leche Republicans Endorses Blanca Guerra for U.S. Congress

Important Update 06/02/2012 – Blanca Guerra has filed as a Libertarian candidate rather than as a Republican. Our endorsement was based upon the expectation that Blanca would file as a Republican, and as a Republican organization we can no longer support Blanca. We are backing no candidate at present. We wish Blanca the best of luck.

Tuscon, Arizona – For Immediate Release

Cafe Con Leche Republicans is pleased to endorse Blanca Guerra for GOP nominee for Arizona Congressional District 3!

Blanca has served as our Arizona leader since our founding in 2011, and we know her to be a solid conservative Republican who understands immigration and the needs of New Americans. As a naturalized citizen, originally from Mexico, Blanca has a great perspective of our broken immigration system, and understands both sides of this complex issue.

Blanca has been a GOP and community activist for many years, and has served as precinct committeeman for the Pima County GOP, a community activist, and an advocate for seniors and children and those not fortunate enough to obtain legal advice or legal guidance in her community. Blanca has been a resident of Arizona since the age of 5, and is a United States Air Force veteran. Blanca lives in Tucson.

Blanca’s engaging personality and conservative values allows her to connect well with both the traditional Republican base in Arizona and outside that base, particularly among conservative and moderate Hispanics, a significant majority of whom are immigrants or 1-2 generations removed from immigrants. Arizona is now 30% Hispanic. It is essential the GOP attract more center-right Hispanic voters, or in coming years become the minority party in Arizona.

Blanca seeks to return the GOP to the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, a big tent. Recently prominent extremists within the Arizona GOP have been shrinking Reagan’s ‘big tent’ into something more akin of a ‘pup tent.’ Many Arizona Republicans are dissatisfied with immigration extremism within the GOP, as demonstrated by the recall of Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, when many Republicans broke ranks with the Arizona GOP and voted for Jerry Lewis, a conservative Republican with more moderate views on immigration. GOP support among conservative and moderate Hispanics, in particular, has been eroding in recent years. Blanca is in a unique position in this race to solidify the GOP base and also attract outside our traditional base as well.

Blanca’s main GOP opponent is also a naturalized citizen from Mexico. However, her opponent’s support for harsh immigration enforcement-only strategies, and open association with Minutemen and other extremists will make it hard to connect outside the traditional GOP Arizona base. In fact many Arizona Republicans support sensible immigration reform and have grown weary of immigration extremists. In the 2004 election, immigration extremist Joe Sweeney lost to Grijalva by 62%-34%.

The incumbent, Raúl Grijalva, has been in office for seven terms, and clearly has ‘grown into his chair’, losing touch with his constituents. Grijalva is the co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, has a 100% pro-liberal voting record with a wide range of liberal special interests such as Americans for Democratic Action, Peace Action, the League of Conservation Voters, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Planned Parenthood, and many others. Grijalva’s values are not those of most Arizonans, who are more conservative.

Many Americans are clamoring for new faces in Washington, and we believe Blanca Guerra is the best choice for Arizona’s Congressional District 3! Please join us in supporting Blanca Guerra for the GOP nominee in this important primary election!

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Cafe Con Leche Republicans is a national GOP group of Republicans who welcome New Americans. Our members and leaders are predominately Hispanic, though we define ourselves through our mission and guiding principles rather than ethnicity, and we welcome anyone who supports our mission as a member or supporter. Our leadership is limited to Republicans. We have chapters in Arizona, Nevada, California, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida.