By Julia Preston | The New York Times
Republicans in Congress studying the results from the governors’ elections in New Jersey and Virginia on Tuesday see two starkly different test cases for how the party should move on immigration.
In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie was boosted to a blowout victory by more than 20 points in part because he won half of Latino voters, while his Democratic rival, State Senator Barbara Buono, won 46 percent of those voters. According to exit polls, Mr. Christie improved his standing among Latinos by 18 percentage points over his first run for governor in 2009.
In Virginia, the state’s conservative attorney general, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, narrowly lost the race for governor he once seemed poised to win against Terry McAuliffe, a veteran Democratic fund-raiser, in part because Latino voters turned out in crucial urban areas and voted heavily against Mr. Cuccinelli.
In both states, Latino voters said they were strongly influenced by the Republicans’ positions on immigration.
