SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The airwaves in California have been dominated by images of a teary housekeeper from Mexico saying she was mistreated by her billionaire employer and turned away when she asked for citizenship help.
It is far from the message Republican Meg Whitman wants to send the state’s crucial Latino voting bloc as she runs for governor.
Whitman is accused of knowingly having the illegal immigrant on her payroll for several years in a revelation that has throttled her campaign just as she prepares for a Spanish-language debate today against Democratic opponent Jerry Brown. She needs Latino voters to win in Democratic-leaning California.
Whitman has sought to cast the story in a positive way, careful not to demonize the housekeeper while calling her an extended member of the family.
Whitman noted how she and her husband paid the housekeeper her $23-an-hour fee even when they were away on vacation and said the woman is being manipulated by Democratic operatives connected to Brown’s campaign.
Even so, the image of a tough-on-immigration gubernatorial candidate getting ensnared in a messy controversy over the legality of her household help is not helpful to a Republican trying to attract the Latino vote.
The narrative of a Latino maid feeling she was mistreated by her wealthy employer is a personal one for many in the Latino community.
“The message she sent is a distant, patronizing figure who is willing to use immigrants but doesn’t understand their plight,” said Louis DeSipio, chairman of Chicano-Latino Studies at the University of California, Irvine. “To the extent Meg Whitman did reach out to Latinos, she’s probably lost that initiative.”
Katia Castro, who emigrated from Costa Rica 20 years ago, said although she liked Whitman’s image overall, she found the revelation about her housekeeper “disgusting.”
“Me being a Latina and an immigrant, I guess I’m biased,” said Castro, 45, a registered Democrat from Fresno. “But if she was against illegal immigration and she had an illegal immigrant working for her, that’s hypocritical.”
The allegations have dominated the gubernatorial race since Nicky Diaz Santillan came forward this week with accusations that Whitman and her husband should have known for years that she was an illegal immigrant. Whitman said she only realized Diaz Santillan was illegal last year, and she promptly fired her.
Diaz Santillan’s attorney, Gloria Allred, said she will file a claim against Whitman for unpaid back wages and mileage. Whitman says she will vigorously defend against the claim.
