Pa. Governor: No, We Have No Latinos

Pennsylvania’s Republican Governor Tom Corbett seems unusually proud that his Administration has no Latinos in it:

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is taking some heat for comments he made last week about his lack of Latino staffers.

Corbett, asked at a Philadelphia forum hosted by the Spanish-language newspaper ALDIA News Media if he had any Latinos serving in his administration, responded that he did not.

“No, we do not have any staff members in there,” he said. “If you can find us one, please let us know.”

When the moderator responded saying she was “sure” there were Latinos in the administration or who would want to work there, Corbett replied, “Do any of you you want to come to Harrisburg? See?”

Corbett is already in serious re-election trouble. This is unlikely to help.

FILED UNDER: 2014 Election, Race and Politics, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Rafer Janders says:

    ….we have no Latinos today.

  2. Hal 10000 says:

    I have to wonder, given how many people in state are already abandoning him because of his handling of the Sandusky affair, the Marcellus Shale issue and the budget, if Corbett’s entire re-election campaign isn’t just becoming an epic trolling.

  3. Anderson says:

    He lost style points by not throwing in a “you people.”

  4. wr says:

    Finally, an honest Republican.

  5. stonetools says:

    Well, at least he didn’t say “wetback” or “greaser”. Small steps.
    One more data point in favor of affirmative action hiring programs, which conservatives tell us we don’t need because people would “naturally” hire qualified minorities in the normal course. Wrong again, Bob.

  6. Andre Kenji says:

    He was not sure. Maybe someone with a Italian or German sounding name could be White Argentinean or a White Southern Brazilian.

  7. roger says:

    I, for one, will not be voting for Corbett. That’s just based on his many actions in the Sandusky case but I can roll the other issues in as icing on the cake.

    Maybe the Pennsylvania Republicans can try running Lynn Swann as gubernatorial candidate again.

  8. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @wr:

    Finally, an honest Republican.

    I think that is what is known as a ‘gaffe’.

  9. Latino_in_Boston says:

    Shorter Corbett: I don’t need them working for me, I need them voting for me.

    Yeah, good luck with that.

  10. Caj says:

    Of course they don’t have Latinos. They’ve only now discovered how vital Latinos are to Republicans ever taking the White House again. So now, they’ll be lying through their teeth saying how much they value the Latino community, as if Latino voters are dumb!! You know that big tent GOP always talk about, well it’s been downsized to a small sleeping bag. They don’t want anyone who is gay, latino or black in reality, but they will pander and lie to garnish all their votes if possible in 2016. Sadly, that is how they roll but I think the American people are far smarter than that, or I hope they are!

  11. superdestroyer says:

    @stonetools:

    Why would a Republican want to have affirmative action program to hire liberal Democratic Hispanics for their administration. Any ambitious Hispanic person who is interest in politics will normally migrate to being a Democratic because Hispanics are usually very liberal and Democrats support a program of quotas, set asides, and affirmative action that help get cut in line in front of whites.

    There should be no surprise that a Republican Adminstraiton has no Republicans any more than a Democratic Administration having white Mormons or white Souther Baptist.