Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

La Raza president and CEO Janet Murguia

Latino voters could play a key role in deciding the outcome of several key 2010 political races across the country, including the Texas gubernatorial contest, a new report released Monday by liberal groups concluded.

The report from America's Voice, a group that dvocates for comprehensive immigration reform, found that the economy remains the top issue of concern to Hispanics. But it concluded that candidates' positions on immigration reform could make a big difference in hotly contested elections.

Eliseo Medina, international executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union, called immigration reform a "litmus test" for many in the Latino community in deciding how to vote.

The report cited a poll concluding that 87 percent of Latino voters said they wouldn't consider voting for a candidate who was in favor of forcing most undocumented workers to leave the country.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White, the Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner, strongly favors comprehensive immigration reform with a possible pathway to citizenship for those in the U.S. illegally. The Republican field -- incumbent Rick Perry and challengers Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina -- have focused on tighter border enforcement rather than comprehensive reform.

Janet Murguia, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza emphasized that Latino voters haven't yet been pushed away from the Republican Party even though they swung toward Democrats in the 2008 presidential election. The votes are still up for grabs if candidates make an effort to appeal to Latinos.

"What matters to us ought to matter to any wise politician seeking office," she said.

Texas is just one of the states where Latinos could sway results. Among the others: California's Senate race, where incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer is facing spirited opposition from three Republicans; Florida, which has open-seat elections for Senate and governor; Nevada, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in deep political trouble; New York and Colorado, where appointed Democrats are trying to win voters' approval to fill the remainder of their terms; and Illinois, where Republican Mark Kirk is leading in the race to fill President Obama's former Senate seat.

Latino voters make up 21.7 percent of Texas voters and have supported Republican candidates such as George W. Bush in the past.

Since then, demonization of Latinos by some Republicans pushed many Latinos back to Democratic candidates, said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice.

This trend can be seen in presidential votes in Texas where Latino voters chose Barack Obama over John McCain, 63 percent to 35 percent. In 2004, the vote was more evenly split with John Kerry getting 49 percent of the Latino vote and Bush getting 50 percent, according to the report.

Sharry said there is opportunity for Republicans to regain some of the Latino vote by appealing to the family values of voters as then-President Bush did in 2004.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, took a similar stance when he wrote a commentary in September about how to appeal to Hispanic voters. Smith wrote that, while a mass amnesty program shouldn't be considered, Republicans can appeal to Hispanic voters through shared values on issues such as support for small business and education.