Hispanic groups blast Sharron Angle's TV ads

LAS VEGAS - Pro-immigration groups have launched a Spanish-language ad blitz to urge Hispanic voters to defeat Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle.

America's Voice, Mi Familia

Vota and Campaign for Community Change said Tuesday that their print and radio campaign will stress the importance of the Hispanic vote against rising immigration fervor.

The radio commercial released Tuesday calls the Republican Party "shameless" and slams Angle for portraying Hispanics as "criminals and thugs" in a series of illegal immigration ads.

"Sharron Angle has decided to run one of the ugliest anti-illegal immigrants ad campaigns in history," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, in a telephone call with reporters.

The groups also will run ads against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck in Denver.

Angle is a tea party favorite in a tight race against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Nevada Democrat supports policies that would allow illegal immigrants to become legal residents.

Angle, who supports hard-line policies that encourage illegal immigrants to self-deport, has run a wave of ads that link Reid to illegal immigration. The ads lean heavily on images of dark-skinned Mexican men.

Angle has said the ads are not anti-Hispanic and her real concern is the "porous" Canadian border.

The Angle campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hispanics comprise roughly 26 percent of Nevada's population.