Will Meg Whitman's illegal maid hurt her with California Latinos?
It has not been a good week for Meg Whitman.
The Republican candidate for governor of California is still having to answer questions about when she and her husband might have known that the Mexican housekeeper they hired for years was in the United States illegally.
That鈥檚 cost Whitman precious time when she鈥檇 rather be staying on message in her neck-and-neck race against California Attorney General and former governor Jerry Brown.
Although she鈥檚 never held public office, the former eBay CEO has shown herself to be a political fighter, and the billionaire businesswoman has the campaign war chest to hold her own between now and the election one month from now.
But can she do it with Latinos, who comprise 19 percent of California voters? Will the flap over Nicky Diaz Santillan, the housekeeper Whitman fired, make any difference with this important part of the electorate?
Saturday she鈥檚 getting the chance to find out as she and Brown debate in California鈥檚 central valley, home to much of the state鈥檚 Latino population. The debate will be aired on the Spanish-language Univision network.
RELATED: The political perils of employing illegal help: six memorable cases
A USC College/Los Angeles Times Poll last weekend showed Brown ahead of Whitman 55-35 percent among Latinos likely to vote.
Most Latinos traditionally vote for Democrats in California, so Whitman鈥檚 35 percent is not bad 鈥� just short of what political analysts say she needs to beat Brown. (That鈥檚 far better than Carly Fiorina is doing against Barbara Boxer among Latinos in California鈥檚 US Senate race.) Whitman is particularly attractive to Latino business owners, and many Latino Californians vigorously oppose illegal immigration.
Whitman insists that she fired her housekeeper as soon as she learned of Diaz Santillan鈥檚 illegal status. But Whitman鈥檚 husband says "it was possible" he saw a letter from the Social Security Administration in 2003 letter questioning Diaz Santillan鈥檚 Social Security number.
How will the housekeeper controversy play here? Whitman is taking no chances.
The Los Angeles Times reports that her campaign has doubled its advertising on Spanish-language radio and increased the number of its Latino television spots by roughly 50 percent. On Friday, the campaign put out a list of two dozen Latino business leaders who are endorsing her campaign for governor. Her tough stance on illegal immigration has been softened with an emphasis on a temporary guest worker program 鈥渟o that good people like Nicky can work in this country legally.鈥�
Whitman鈥檚 web site leads with a counterattack against the 鈥渟mear鈥� and 鈥減olitical stunt鈥� involving her illegal housekeeper. She blames the Brown campaign and especially Gloria Allred, the celebrity attorney representing Diaz Santillan. Although Whitman鈥檚 former housekeeper admits she lied about her legal status, she says her former employer mistreated her.
As proof of collusion between Brown and Allred, Whitman supporters point to Allred鈥檚 backing of Democrats over the years. Allred has contributed some $6,000 to Democratic candidates since 2000, including $150 to Jerry Brown鈥檚 2006 campaign to become California attorney general.
More significant may be Brown鈥檚 union backers, who are making much of the housekeeper affair.
In a new Spanish-language campaign ad, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) hammers Whitman.
"Whitman attacks undocumented workers to win votes, but an undocumented woman worked in her house for nine years," a narrator says. "Whitman says one thing in Spanish and something different when she speaks English. The true Whitman has no shame. She is a woman of two faces."
Despite Brown鈥檚 union backing, Whitman鈥檚 campaign is heavily outspending her opponent.
Meanwhile, says Whitman, firing Diaz Santillan 鈥渨as one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.鈥�
鈥淢y family and I love Nicky, but she had lied to us for nine years,鈥� she writes on her web site. 鈥淎nd more than that she had broken the law. And the facts are as simple as that.鈥�
The next month will tell whether the facts indeed are as simple as that and whether it makes any difference in who becomes California鈥檚 next governor.
RELATED: The political perils of employing illegal help: six memorable cases
