Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has hired the Hispanic media director from President Obama’s previous campaign team, as he prepares to woo that key Democratic consistency in his soon-to-be-announced presidential run.
Mr. O’Malley, who is expected to announce his White House bid at a rally Saturday in Baltimore, signed on Gabriela Domenzain for the Hispanic outreach effort, snatching up a campaign veteran who also had been in talks with frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton’s team, reported BuzzFeed.
“In Maryland, you speak to Latinos and they call him the most pro-Latino governor of the United States,” Ms. Domenzain told the news site. “In other states they don’t know him but they should.”
The hire signals Mr. O’Malley’s intention to battle with Mrs. Clinton for Hispanic voters.
Mrs. Clinton already has made bold overtures to Hispanics, backing immigration reform policies that satisfy every demand of pro-immigration activists, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrations and expanding the controversial deportation amnesty attempted by Mr. Obama.
A federal judge has put Mr. Obama’s immigration moves on hold while the legality of his action is decided in the courts.
Mr. O’Malley has long supported a pro-immigrant agenda, including signing legalizing driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants and helping establish the state’s “sanctuary cities” for illegal immigrants.
Still, he faces a steep uphill run to overtake Mrs. Clinton, who has a commanding lead in the polls and huge advantage in the money race that has made her the all-but-inevitable Democratic nominee.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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