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CNN Live At Daybreak
Texas Democrats Hold Spanish Language Debate
Aired March 05, 2002 - 06:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Political strategists are looking west this morning. California voters go to the polls today for an earlier than usual primary. In the balance, a tight and sometimes bitter race between two Republican candidates for governor. Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan is battling newcomer Bill Simon for the nomination. Riordan is backed by the White House, but has slipped behind Simon in recent polls. The winner will face Democratic Governor Gray Davis for the final vote in November.
Also on the ballot, Gary Condit. He's seeking an eighth term in Congress. It's the first time he's faced voters since his relationship with Chandra Levy surfaced last year.
Latino voters will have a big influence on today's California election. The same holds true in Texas where two candidates for governor are in a fierce fight for the Hispanic vote. How fierce?
Here's CNN's Thelma Gutierrez to tell us about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was an unprecedented prime time event, a one-hour debate in English, followed by another hour in Spanish.
TONY SANCHEZ, (D), TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
DAN MORALES, (D), TEXAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
GUTIERREZ: Two grueling hours that would test the linguistic stamina of two Latino Democrats, locked in a fierce primary battle to become the next governor of Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tony Sanchez (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)
GUTIERREZ: The top contenders, 54-year old Tony Sanchez, a Texas businessman worth more than a half billion dollars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During my six years as a Texas lawmaker ... GUTIERREZ: And Dan Morales, a 45-year old Harvard graduate and former state attorney general who spent the past 15 years in public service.
MORALES: I have made the decision to devote my career to public service. My opponent has made the decision in his career to focus on making money.
SANCHEZ: I think it's an absolute ridiculous statement, OK. He has been raising millions of dollars - millions of dollars for 15 years.
GUTIERREZ: On this night in Dallas, it boiled down to reaching Spanish-speaking voters. About a third of the population here in Texas are Latinos. Recent polls show that 80 percent actually wanted to hear the issues debated in Spanish. Debate organizers say this makes Dallas a political trendsetter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this is truly a celebration for Texas and a celebration for our country.
SANCHEZ: I think that the people around the United States are saying, you know, the Hispanic population is really coming into the realm.
MORALES: The Hispanic segment of our electorate is growing, particularly within the Democratic Party.
GUTIERREZ: Morales said he would bring years of experience as a lawmaker to office. Sanchez says his strength is in his business acumen. Among the issues debated in Spanish, bilingual education, which both candidates support.
But they're on opposite ends of affirmative action.
MORALES: I think it's wrong for our state to make admission's decisions based exclusively on race or exclusively on ethnicity.
SANCHEZ: He went to Harvard under a program of affirmative action. He is a baby, a product of affirmative action. When he got there, and he got to the top, he lifted the ladder.
MORALES: It's this man, it's Mr. Sanchez spending more than $10 million of his own money attempting to buy this election.
SANCHEZ: The very worst thing we can possibly do, Shelley (ph), is go out and raise taxes and give money to professional politicians like Mr. Morales ...
GUTIERREZ: How did they do in the Spanish debate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
GUTIERREZ: Analysts say Sanchez was clearly more at ease with the language while English is Morales' dominant tongue. Will it make a difference? MARCELO GAEFE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LATINO ELECTED OFFICIALS: There is a large segment of Latinos that are Republicans. They're not going to vote for either one of these candidates.
GUTIERREZ: The candidate that takes on Republican Governor Rick Perry in the general election might have a shot at something much bigger. We all know what happened to the last governor of Texas.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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