The largest Spanish-language newspaper in Massachusetts, El Planeta, endorsed Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) Thursday rather than throwing its support for the open Senate seat behind Latino GOP candidate Gabriel Gomez, the Boston Globe reported.
From the Globe:
El Planeta, a Somerville-based newspaper with a circulation of 40,000, said it endorsed Markey because the Irish-American Democrat would fight harder “to continue opening doors” for Latinos than Gomez, the son of Colombian immigrants and the Republican nominee.
“You would expect that for a Spanish-language media outlet, during an electoral campaign with a Latino US Senate candidate, the decision to support him would be easy,” the three-person editorial board wrote in an endorsement to be published Friday. But, they added, “on the matters that most affect the Latino community in Massachusetts, we think that Edward Markey has demonstrated a greater commitment to the defense of those issues than the Republican candidate, Gabriel Gómez.”
Still, with nearly 300,000 eligible Latino voters from Boston to Springfield, an increased turnout could make a difference in a race that has narrowed. Both candidates are scrambling to court voters in English and Spanish: Markey has campaigned in ethnic enclaves in Boston and Springfield, home to the largest Latino populations in the state, while Gomez lobbied Latinos last weekend at backyard barbecues and will hold a Latino town hall Saturday in Southbridge.
The full endorsement can be found here.
