Woman Claims She Worked For Nevada Candidate Brian Sandoval While She Was Undocumented

With California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman still facing questions over whether she hired an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper, another Republican hopeful is now facing similar allegations.

Channel 2 News in Nevada reported Monday night that a woman has stepped forward saying that the family of Republican Brian Sandoval, who is challenging Democrat Rory Reid for Nevada's governorship, hired her to be a housekeeper while she was undocumented. (She and her family have since obtained citizenship.) The woman, Anna Padilla, said she stopped working for the Sandovals in July 1997.

Padilla said that while she was initially happy to see Sandoval running, she was disappointed to hear his stance on immigration and now no longer supports anyone in the gubernatorial race. "In the time I worked with him, he supported me," said Padilla. "Now he says he does not support Latinos that are already here?"

"Brian and Kathleen do not know this person," said the Sandoval campaign in a statement to Channel 2 News. Obviously, this is another desperate and dishonest attack by Rory Reid's failing campaign. It is further proof that Rory will say anything to get elected." The station wrote that it didn't learn of Padilla's story from the Reid campaign.

Sandoval, a member of the Latino community, has said he is firmly against "amnesty" and supported Arizona's controversial immigration law. Fernando Romero, president of the nonpartisan Hispanics in Politics, Nevada's oldest Hispanic organization, told the Las Vegas Sun that there was "a tremendous backlash" against Sandoval after he made those remarks.

"Hispanics are surprised that Sandoval ... has declared himself in favor of SB1070, a move that will surely diminish Hispanic votes for him," read a scathing editorial a few months ago by Las Vegas' Spanish-language newspaper El Mundo. "On top of that, he isn't in favor of driving privileges for undocumented [immigrants]. That does not speak well for his thinking."

Sandoval has a considerable lead over Reid, with polls showing him leading by nearly 20 points.

Comments

[Chivas]

10:01 AM on 10/13/2010

My Aunt slept with Elvis while she was drunk (and undocumented)

[SocialistBoy]

12:13 AM on 10/14/2010

I think I know her!! ;-)

[bmike]

09:48 PM on 10/12/2010

Hiring illegal is only bad at election time.After election illegals go back to work resulting in more money in economy and other industries hire.Illegals know they have to lay low until after election.It looks like once the paycheck comes in politicians are different people.

[Mas]

06:17 PM on 10/12/2010

In the southwest a very large number of the Hispanic voters go to the voting booth and chose "Republican."

[ScorpioTop]

12:35 AM on 10/13/2010

People of Hispanic origin that vote Republican would be shocked if they knew the truth about how the GOP is using them.

[buckfushlv]

03:45 PM on 10/12/2010

FAUX NEWS has launched a new website aiming at the latino market

http://latino.foxnews.com/index.html

[thepoliticalcat]

04:49 PM on 10/12/2010

How interesting. I wonder how it will affect the electorate.

[buckfushlv]

05:19 PM on 10/12/2010

not much-----

they know basura when the see it or hear it.

[wicked0ne]

02:56 PM on 10/12/2010

Gee.

If he was a failed rape prosecutor that wore an SS uniform, made homophobic statements, ran away from the press, and threatened to take out a reporter he would receive 10 times as many tro// apologists..

[hopeisalive]

02:09 PM on 10/12/2010

A guess it's another case of selective memory. Hard to remember 13 years ago, but I would imagine that there might be some kind of record of payments somewhere, but those records probably won't see the light of day until November 3rd.

[easttone]

01:56 PM on 10/12/2010

once and forall we need a national database for status checking. if you hire illegals you are punished most likely fines, that will keep doubling depending on the # of illegals you hire. next all those found to be illegal ship them home. each person breaking the law on this issue needs to pay the penalty.

[Viper1st]

02:06 PM on 10/12/2010

E-Verify?

[MsGray]

02:10 PM on 10/12/2010

You know La Raza, etc, won't let them mandate that.

[Jocalo]

01:55 PM on 10/12/2010

There is a more simple solution. Help Mexico and Latin America build a middle class. One of the most obvious ways would be to put pressure on US corporations, who use workers in their outsourced factories, to pay a living wage to workers and make it possible for people to stay in their homes and feed and educate their children. They would still make out like bandits because a living wage is still dirt cheap. We arrogantly assume that people come here because they love our culture sooo much. They want the same things we want, a better life for their families. Most undocumented workers are incredibly homesick and have left their loved ones behind so that they can work to support them. They would LOVE to stay home, but there are no jobs. It would be a lot cheaper in the long run to help shore up our neighbors instead of using them to make our Levis, processing chips and Coca-Cola and not paying them enough to have a decent life.
We need to get to the source of the problem and help them build a middle class.

[Viper1st]

02:04 PM on 10/12/2010

2009 - USA foreign aid to Mexico $470 Million USD

2009 - $17 Billion USD sent to Mexico by illegal immigrants working in the USA

The effort is documented

[noeffect]

02:18 PM on 10/12/2010

The foreign aid amount is negligible. ACTUAL HELP for that economy would come if US employers in Mexico paid anything like a fair wage. They average $1.85 an hour for work that costs ten times that or MORE in the US. In fact, most Mexicans are paid by the DAY because it's easier to figure, and if they work extra hours, it's still just one DAY.

If US manufacturers paid HALF or even a FIFTH to their Mexican workers what they pay here, that economy would take off like a rocket. Everyone fleeing Mexico to get a job here, could instead stay home and find work making and growing things and performing services for the "wealthy" employees of US corps. The MINIMUM boost to the Mexican economy would be nearly a billion dollars a year.

[noeffect]

02:32 PM on 10/12/2010

I totally mis-stated that. The base figure, before amplification effects are factored in, is NINE billion.

[pjt2352]

02:23 PM on 10/12/2010

How are we going to help with the middle class in another country when our own middle class is shrinking away and may became a thing of the past?

[MsGray]

02:35 PM on 10/12/2010

Good point.

[thepoliticalcat]

04:56 PM on 10/12/2010

Obviously, we're capable of doing more than one thing at a time, but I agree that the fate of the middle-class in this country is, or should be, our most important priority at this time. That's not incompatible with considering solutions to this complex problem, though.

[PHILVflorida]

01:52 PM on 10/12/2010

It wasn’t long ago that he said in an interview on Univision that he vehemently supported Arizona’s anti-immigrant law. In reference to the same law, he was asked how he would feel if he and his children were stopped in the street and asked for their papers. He answered, with a note of pride in his voice, “My children don’t look Hispanic.”

And Justice for ALL!

[thepoliticalcat]

04:56 PM on 10/12/2010

I remember that. The man is an utter disgrace.

[thepoliticalcat]

05:03 PM on 10/12/2010

What. a. wr_etch.

[den1953]

01:35 PM on 10/12/2010

One thing you can say about the Tea party candidates when it comes to immigration they are steady with their hiring of illegals while preaching against them in public!

[MsGray]

01:43 PM on 10/12/2010

I didn't know Sandoval was a member of the Tea Party. Forward me the link that shows that, would you?

[WarriorLemming]

01:51 PM on 10/12/2010

You say Clinton I say, John Ensign, Newt Gingrich, John McCain, David Vitter, Vic Fossella, Donald Sherwood, Sanford, Ed Schrock, Donald Lukens, Dan Burton, Dan Crane, Mark Foley, Helen Chenowith--this is fun! :D

[den1953]

02:25 PM on 10/12/2010

Read Huff post and a few more news outlets you might learn he is more Tea party then Sharron Angle!

[DesertShores]

01:26 PM on 10/12/2010

I notice in all of the HP posts involing illegal aliens that there is never a criticism of the illegal.
They are here illegally, they lie to get jobs and then bite the hands that feed them.

[Leigh49]

01:31 PM on 10/12/2010

What purpose would that serve? People like you already H8 them so... you need reinforcement?

[thepoliticalcat]

01:32 PM on 10/12/2010

Many farmworkers labour in the blazing sun with inadequate health and safety protections to ensure that you have cheap produce and good wine on your table. Many of them are horribly exploited by employers who employ them for the season then have them deported before they can collect their wages. Please provide some proof of your assertions that undocumented migrant workers "lie to get jobs and then bite the hands that feed them."

[Viper1st]

01:36 PM on 10/12/2010

I can name that illegal immigrant who lies to get a job and then bites the hands that feeds her -

Ms. Nicandra Diaz-Santillan

[MsGray]

01:40 PM on 10/12/2010

Reading comprehension just isn't your strong suit. Did the OP mention farm workers specifically?

[Petey131]

01:24 PM on 10/12/2010

From Nevada:

"Sandoval, a member of the Latino community."

H3ll no he is not a member of my community. He will not get my vote.

[thepoliticalcat]

01:26 PM on 10/12/2010

He will never get the vote of any self-respecting Latino. Which means he will never ever get elected to any kind of national office.

[buckfushlv]

01:48 PM on 10/12/2010

hello tp

i have been working the reid campaign here in las vegas and the mood in the hispanic community is not a good one for sandoval or angle.

their internal crap meters can spot BS

[marilyn 63]

01:23 PM on 10/12/2010

do you kinda notice so called illegals are good wedge issues to drum up right wing hate (THERE GO YOUR JOBS) but when you look into it they are always catching some GOP owned company hiring them and having them take care of there horses, houses, kids, or any thing else they can pay little or nothing for. but use them to rev up the base because governing is hard for them. they need wedge issues.for tea-republicans. what more do they(tea-republicans) want?? they outsourced our jobs to that pinko commie country. (well that's what they used to call china now they call it a bank.

[valeskas]

01:18 PM on 10/12/2010

Here we go again. GOP.

[castleblanca]

01:16 PM on 10/12/2010

And yet another "do as I say, not as I do" Republican surfaces.

They're all over the place!