A few years ago, as part of the entrance procession before a Catholic Mass at the United Farm Workers union headquarters in Keene, I noticed a trim, graying gentleman beside me also waiting to proceed to the altar and holding a copy of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. This is the groundbreaking legislation that gave farm workers the right to unionize and provided state oversight of agribusiness.
When he turned, I noticed it was former California Governor Jerry Brown.
That was a fitting gesture.
Brown signed that historic legislation into law in 1975, but it was only one of several actions he took supporting Latinos. He is perhaps best known for marching with UFW founder Cesar Chavez. But Brown also put Cruz Reynoso on the California Supreme Court, the first Hispanic to hold that position, and appointed Mario Obledo as secretary of wealth and welfare, the first Latino a modern state cabinet
It's safe to say that in the mid-1970s, his support among Latino voters was unparalleled. Forty years later, Hispanic votes are more crucial than ever in his campaign against Republican opponent and former eBay executive Meg Whitman.
But do Latinos still remember Jerry Brown? It depends on who you ask.
A Field Poll released this week showed that Brown was only three points ahead of Whitman among Latino voters, 43 to 40 percent, in the state gubernatorial race. But a Los Angeles Times/USC poll released only days later shows Brown with an almost 20-point lead among Hispanic voters.
Why the big difference? I have no idea.
But I'll be interested to hear the experts explain it in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, you can read the Field Poll results here:
http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2353.pdf
You can also learn more about the Los Angeles Times/USC poll here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0927-poll-20100927,0,5308121.story
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