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Hispanic voters irked by the Republican hard line on immigration policy turned out in force and helped Democrats win in U.S. congressional elections, according to exit polls and analysts.
Democrats won control of the U.S. House of Representatives in Tuesday's elections, and clinched control of the Senate by a 51-49 majority when a final race was decided on Thursday.
Exit polls showed more than two-thirds of Hispanics voted for Democrats in House races, while just 27 percent voted for Republicans.
Latino activists said many were revved up to support Democrats by a GOP pledge to crack down on illegal immigration and build stretches of wall along the Mexico border.
The policy was crafted to reach out to core conservative voters. But along with widespread concern at President George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war, it triggered a backlash among Latino voters.
"(Treating) immigration as a wedge issue dealt a double whammy to the Republican Party" at the polls, said Clarissa Martinez, the director of state policy for the National Council of La Raza activist group.
"It didn't work as a strategy with the broader electorate, and it actually had the effect of driving Latinos away from the Republican party," she added.
Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority in the United States and comprise about 9.3 million voters.
Exit polls showed nearly seven of 10 Hispanics voted Democratic in races for House seats. Some 27 percent voted Republican, and 4.6 percent for independent candidates.
BUILDING WALLS OR MENDING FENCES?
Nationally, Hispanics have no affiliation as a group to either major U.S. political party, and in the past they have given greater support to the Republicans than they did on Tuesday.
The question is whether they will remain disenchanted with Republicans as the United States prepares for the presidential election in 2008.
Activists say the key will be how Republicans and Democrats approach the thorny issue of what to do with the 10-12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the country.
Bush and the outgoing Senate favored a comprehensive overhaul of immigration policy that included boosting security on the Mexico border and creating a guest worker program, which is favored by Hispanics.
But House Republicans pushed through Congress a plan to build 700 miles (1,120 km) of fence along several stretches of the U.S.-Mexican border to try to keep out illegal immigrants.
"If the Republicans keep building walls and talking about immigrants as criminals ... they have no where to go but down," said Jorge Mursuli of Democracia USA, which seeks to increase the participation of Hispanics in the democratic process.
"The question isn't whether Hispanics are going or staying, but how quickly they become a part of the fabric of the electorate," he added.
