Abbott's first statewide TV ad in race against Wendy Davis is in Spanish

AUSTIN - Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, fighting for Hispanic voters against a Democrat whose uphill battle depends on them, launched his first statewide television ad in the governor's race Tuesday in Spanish featuring members of his Latina wife's family.

Abbott said the ad shows his multicultural family mirrors Texas. The campaign of his Democratic opponent, Sen. Wendy Davis, dismissed the commercial as damage control.

“The vision that I've outlined in my campaign for governor is one that unites all Texans — regardless of race, religion or ZIP code — the same way my family has been united,” Abbott said in releasing the ad to run on Spanish-language networks through the World Cup competition. His campaign wouldn't put a figure on the ad buy, which comes months before the November election.

Davis spokeswoman Rebecca Acuña cited issues including a GOP state platform that takes a hard-line immigration stance; Abbott's defense of the public school funding system against a court challenge; and his comparison of South Texas corruption to that which occurs in third-world countries when he unveiled his border security plan.

“It's no coincidence that he is in damage-control mode one week after the release of Greg Abbott's party platform that is so offensive to Latino families,” she said. “His decision to go up this early on television shows he's very nervous his insulting reference to border communities as the 'third world' and his opposition to public education funding, the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform are big problems for him on Election Day.”

Abbott, comfortably ahead of Davis in polls thus far, has emphasized outreach to Hispanics from the beginning of his campaign, which he launched last year in San Antonio.

He often points out that his wife, Cecilia, would be the first Latina to become Texas' first lady if he is elected. Her maternal grandparents came to San Antonio from Mexico and made a living doing janitorial work. Abbott's ad features his mother-in-law, Mary Lucy Phalen, and sister-in-law, Rosie Phalen.

Davis is trying to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Texas in two decades. Her uphill battle depends in part on turning out more Hispanic voters and winning a larger percentage of them than Democratic nominee Bill White did against GOP Gov. Rick Perry in 2010.

Abbott wants to win a bigger percentage of the Hispanic vote than did then-Gov. George W. Bush, who, according to exit polls, got 49.5 percent of that group in 1998.

Democratic strategist Matt Angle of the Lone Star Project disagrees with the Bush percentage, saying exit polls tend to inaccurately reflect turnout because “minority voters and other low-income voters don't talk to white people with clipboards.”

Angle contended that Abbott, who supports the state's voter ID law, is “ferociously” pursuing voter suppression to get a larger percentage of smaller overall turnout. Abbott and other backers of the Voter ID law have said it's needed to ensure only eligible people vote and that Hispanics support the idea in polls.

Political experts said outreach to Hispanics is crucial to Republicans' future, particularly as groups including Battleground Texas work to make the state competitive for Democrats.

“The better he (Abbott) performs with Hispanics, the less momentum Battleground Texas has building for the future,” said Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak.

Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said it's going to become increasingly difficult for Republicans to win statewide unless they can get between a third and two-fifths of the Hispanic vote — and a candidate like Abbott who wants to win big must get more. He said Abbott doesn't want Davis to have a vehicle around which to mobilize Hispanic voters to vote for Democrats.

“At the minimum, Greg Abbott does not want to be seen as a threat ... At the maximum, he wants to be seen as someone who has the best interest of Hispanic voters at heart,” Jones said. “The only way Davis comes close to winning is by dramatically increasing Hispanic turnout and by winning a larger share of the Hispanic vote.”