Comprende, Washington?
Herndon, Virginia may be a small area, but they sent a big message yesterday in their local election. The voters ousted pols who supported tax-subsidized illegal alien day labor center.
WJLA reports:
The day labor site in Herndon may have changed the face of politics in Herndon.
Steve DeBenedittis, a resident who opposed the center, has been elected mayor of Herndon, defeating incumbent Michael O’Reilly.DeBenedittis captured 1,363 votes, 130 more than O’Reilly.
The center opened late last year, replacing a chaotic unofficial site in a 7-Eleven parking lot as a spot for employers to recruit day laborers.There was also turnover on the Herndon town council, as only two, Dennis Husch and Harlon Reece, were re-elected. Connie Hutchinson, Dave Kirby, Bill Tirrell and Charlie Waddell have been newly elected to the council.
The mayor and town council take office on July 1.
And from WaPo:
Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum on the turbulent national issue of illegal immigration.
Residents replaced the incumbents with a group of challengers who immediately called for significant changes at the center. Some want to bar public funds from being spent on the facility or restrict it to workers residing in the country legally. Others want it moved to an industrial site away from the residential neighborhood where it is located.The day-labor center thrust the western Fairfax County town into the national spotlight as the issue of illegal immigration became emotional. Even though fewer than 3,000 people voted yesterday, advocates on both sides of the issue looked at the election as a test case of public sentiment. Outside groups such as the Minutemen Project, which favors sharp curbs on illegal immigration, intervened in the town debate. Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, is suing the town over establishment of the center.
Steve J. DeBenedittis, 38, a health club operator and political newcomer, defeated Mayor Michael L. O’Reilly with 52 percent of the vote. Council members Carol A. Bruce and Steven D. Mitchell, who voted for the center, were turned out of office. Jorge Rochac, a Salvadoran businessman who supported the center and was seeking to become the town’s first Hispanic council member, was also defeated. About one in four town residents is Hispanic.
The incumbents were replaced by William B. Tirrell, Charlie D. Waddell, Connie Haines Hutchinson and David A. Kirby, all opponents of the day-labor center, which is designed to help immigrants find work each day.
Two incumbents were reelected. Dennis D. Husch was one of two council members to vote against the center when it was approved by the panel in August. He received more votes than any of the eight other council candidates. J. Harlon Reece was the lone supporter of the center who was reelected. He received the fewest number of votes among the winners.
Twenty-six percent of the town’s 10,203 registered voters came to the polls, according to Fairfax County figures, up from 20 percent when O’Reilly was elected two years ago.
DeBenedittis, the son of a popular former high school art teacher in Herndon, said his victory was the product of intense door-to-door campaigning and deep discontent over how the labor center issue was handled by the mayor and council in the town of 23,000 residents.
“They didn’t like the way the debate went down, and there was the feeling that they were not heard,” he said.
Linked with Michelle Malkin
May 3, 2006 - 07:00 AM on May 3rd, 2006
Referendum on Illegals
Courtesy of Wizbang (via the Washington Post):Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and two Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum on the turbule…
May 3, 2006 - 09:52 AM on May 3rd, 2006
Democracy in action – 26% of registered voters turned out to vote…
Minority rules.
May 3, 2006 - 10:02 AM on May 3rd, 2006
yeah, I’d have to agree on that one..pathetic.
I mean, I live in a one party, corrupt, political cesspool of a city, and even I brave the union thugs and NAACP racist intimidation brigades to vote…..what are the residents of Herndon’s excuse?
May 3, 2006 - 10:20 AM on May 3rd, 2006
It was democracy though. Everyone had the chance to vote but chose not to. A bigger message was sent though.
May 3, 2006 - 10:27 AM on May 3rd, 2006
Well Peejz.. as you know, SFL and I have very different ideas as to what constitutes democracy… for me, it’s voting, for him it’s liberal judges ruling by fiat, and mobs of protestors making demands.
May 3, 2006 - 11:22 AM on May 3rd, 2006
Hey now! We just agreed that 26% voter turnout was pathetic…that’s a step in the right direction. Liberals and Conservatives can agree on some things, we’re not from different planets.
Regarding judges overturning unconstitutional laws, please. We have three branches of government in this country, and those who don’t like checks and balances can move to Iran or something.
“It was democracy though. Everyone had the chance to vote but chose not to. A bigger message was sent though.”
It was crappy democracy. When you have 1 out of 4 eligible voters actually voicing their opinion, you have a rule of the minority. There is no mandate when you have numbers like that…
That said, the 75% not voting has nobody to blame but themselves. Pathetic.
May 3, 2006 - 11:31 AM on May 3rd, 2006
Maybe americans are incapable of the effort it takes to vote..I mean, I’ve been lectured for the past week that americans are unable to Pick fruit, clear tables, clean rooms, etc…maybe we need the hard-working, industrious Mexicans to vote for us.
May 3, 2006 - 11:50 AM on May 3rd, 2006
“I’ve been lectured for the past week that americans are unable to Pick fruit, clear tables, clean rooms, etc”
Most Americans probably ARE UNABLE to do those jobs you listed – at the low wages that the migrants work for.
“…maybe we need the hard-working, industrious Mexicans to vote for us.”
Looking at the growing numbers of Latinos in this country, 30-40 years from now you’ll probably be right – immigrants and their children will be the majority of voters in many places…
May 3, 2006 - 12:04 PM on May 3rd, 2006
great, and if their “hard work” produces the same wonderful results as it has in their own country, won’t that be grand!
May 3, 2006 - 09:43 PM on May 3rd, 2006
Herndon, VA Mayor Loses Election For Supporting Illegal Aliens
Herndon, VA Mayor Michael O’Reilly was defeated in a taste of justice from voters that is sure to spread throughout the county. Mayor O’Reilly was a supporter of a day labor center that helped in the hiring of illegal aliens…
May 3, 2006 - 11:31 PM on May 3rd, 2006
I so look forward to the day when Kalifornia will be just like Mexico…NOT!
May 5, 2006 - 07:12 AM on May 5th, 2006
Mike Kilo, their “hard work,” does not produce the same results as it does here. In Mexico, the wages are a lot worse, the conditions are worse, and their economy is down the drain right now. Why else do you think Mexicans are coming up here, besides the other wonderful freedoms the U.S. offers and the opportunity to start a new. Robert, learn how to spell: California! Also, get used to Mexicans cause we’ll always be here, like it or not. Like we shouted during the March on May 1, in Chicago: “Si nos hechan, nos regresamos!!!” VIVA MEXICO Y VIVA EL CINCO DE MAYO!!!
May 5, 2006 - 07:40 AM on May 5th, 2006
Olivia- have them rebuild their nation..or should I say just build it already. What are they waiting for?
May 5, 2006 - 09:51 PM on May 5th, 2006
Mexico is exactly what the Mexicans deserve. When they finally realize that the solution to their economic problems isn’t to come to the US, it’s to overthrow that corrupt POS of a government that they have and replace it with one with the people’s interests at heart. Get rid of the drug lords and their corrupt government lackeys. Then Mexico will become a great nation. Mexico has an almost limitless wealth that is being stolen from the people.
Perhaps the proper course of action for the US government would be a tough love approach. It would definitely be in the US’s best interest for the border to be closed to all of the drug dealers and criminals. Forcing the Mexicans to confront and fix their own problems might be the best thing we could do for them.
May 5, 2006 - 10:18 PM on May 5th, 2006
#10: Olivia, you must be a newbie. It used to be California (I’m a native). It has become “Kalifornia”.
Just like “Klinton”. Or my preference, “Klintscum”.
Comprende?
May 11, 2006 - 12:28 PM on May 11th, 2006
Robert, stop trying to speak spanish, it’s not working for you. When you ask a person in spanish if they understand, you say “comprendes?” Just stop while you’re ahead, with your racist self.
May 11, 2006 - 12:34 PM on May 11th, 2006
I’m a racist? And what do you know about Kalifornia? How long you been here? Two months?
May 11, 2006 - 12:46 PM on May 11th, 2006
#14, actually my use of “comprende” as a conjugation of the verb “Comprender” is quite correct. “Comprendes” is the familiar term, “Comprende” is the formal conjugation.
Comprendes would be (fully) used as “Tu comprendes?” but in conversation the pronoun “Tu” is commonly dropped, resulting in “Comprendes?”.
The way I used it, the formal conjugation, would be (fully) stated as “Usted comprende?”. In conversation the pronoun “Usted” is typically dropped, resulting in just “Comprende?”
May 11, 2006 - 12:51 PM on May 11th, 2006
Robert, are you trying for the Ahhnold version of California; “Kullifornia” ?
And I’ll stick up for you here; I don’t think you’re racist. I just think you’re ignorant.
Not nearly as bad…
May 11, 2006 - 01:00 PM on May 11th, 2006
SFL, thanks for sticking up for me as not a racist. But now how can I be “ignorant” when I (as have many others) full articulated my position on the illegal immigration issue, backed up with many years of personal experience here in California, starting with the much-referenced “Bracero” program that was discontinued in the early 1960s.
I have lived through it all, seen it all, and know about which I speak. How is that ignorant?
Oh, and did you like my little Spanish lesson for Olivia? She probably won’t understand any of what I posted.
May 11, 2006 - 01:04 PM on May 11th, 2006
The Governator’s pronunciation of California sounds to me like “cauliflower”, almost like “Caulifornia”.
What a sad wreck of a Governorship his has turned out to be. His fundamental mistake, imo, was surrounding himself with idiots as advisors. Just my opinion.
May 11, 2006 - 01:26 PM on May 11th, 2006
hmmm an uneducated austrian bodybuilder turned hack action star, not a great governor? you must be joking?
May 11, 2006 - 01:42 PM on May 11th, 2006
He could have done well, but he surrounded himself with a bunch of whiz kids who thought they knew it all and didn’t. He should have sought out the wisest, most experienced political advisers instead. Noe he’s fired some of the dopes, but it’s too late.
May 11, 2006 - 01:47 PM on May 11th, 2006
hey, I’d take him over the cheese-steak eating, would be football commentator, carpet-bagging fool running my state.
his time is short though, as LYNN SWANN is gonna trounce his ass in november.
May 12, 2006 - 08:57 PM on May 12th, 2006
Paging Olivia: Time for your Spanish lesson: See post #16.