When Meg Whitman opened her campaign office in the Latino heartland of East Los Angeles in August, she attracted quite a lot of attention. But not exactly the type she had hoped.

Yes, some people celebrated the arrival of the first gubernatorial campaign office to grace their community in almost 30 years. The spot sits right off the 60 freeway, a block and a half from the last Gold Line light-rail stop and about four blocks from East Los Angeles College.

But the new Republican hub also provoked resistance, with some 100 union-organized protesters calling Whitman a “fake” right outside her campaign office doors when it first opened.

Two months later the place still survives, nestled in a shopping center along with a nails and hair salon, a checks cashed store and Gabrie Dental. It could well serve as a symbol of the crucial role the Latino vote could play in the Nov. 2 election. Both Whitman and her chief opponent, Democrat Jerry Brown, are in pursuit of the growing segment of California’s electorate, with a poll by the Public Policy Institute of California this week showing Brown making more inroads than Whitman. Brown leads Whitman among likely Latino voters by 29 percentage points, with 21 percent remaining undecided. Three weeks ago, nearly twice as many Latinos remained undecided.

“You have to capture 30 to 40 percent of the Latino vote to win a statewide election in California,” said Rosalind Gold, senior director of policy research and advocacy at the National Association of Elected Latino Officials. 

Gold said both Brown and Whitman have had aggressive reach out in both English and Spanish media. “It’s a recognition of the importance of spreading the word to Latino voters,” she said. 

And two months after Whitman opened her East L.A. office, the protests continue. “I expect [protests] every day,” said Sergio Vasquez, a Whitman volunteer working out of the East L.A. office and a Latino. He suspects most of the protesters to be “labor heads” and said things heated up after the story broke about Whitman’s undocumented housekeeper, Nicky Diaz.

“Of course people are free to voice their opinions, but I think they’re threatened by us,” he said.

The office installed security cameras and hired a security guard after a slew of threats and the pilfering of one of their lighted Meg Whitman signs that hung outside. “We’re expressing a different point of view, and we opened up in an area that Democrats have taken for granted and have been ignoring,” Vasquez said.

The California Democratic Party opened its own East L.A. office about a month after Whitman. It’s a less than a five-minute drive from Whitman’s locale, down the road on Cesar Chavez Avenue. 

Sergio Vasquez, Whitman volunteer based in the East L.A. Office and UC Riverside student.

“We basically understand the importance of having an office in East L.A., mainly for the Latino community, “ said Alex Delgadillo, one of the two staff members working out of the Democrat’s new spot. “We’re here to invite the community in and, you know, give them a part in the campaign and to help in our grassroots efforts of contacting voters and making sure people are registered.”

When asked why the Democrats waited so long to open its office in the Latino community, Delgadillo pointed to funding issues.

“Yeah, OK, we opened up later than [Whitman]. The reason for that is because  we don’t have someone writing tens of millions of dollars in checks every month out of her little, personal piggy bank,” said Delgadillo with a chuckle.

Now they’re operating at full speed ahead, he said.

“People are coming out and showing support and it’s more than her whole billion-dollar bank can show for,” he said. “We have volunteers coming in from Bellflower, Highland Park and Cal State L.A. to name a few.”

He also called Whitman’s office a “front.”

Of course, that’s not what the campaign office, a former Sprint store, looks like. Meg Whitman “Una nueva California” signs plaster the office windows and walls, and inside it’s the usual scene you’d expect at any campaign spot: a couple long tables, some chairs, phones, a few volunteers milling around, the buzz of florescent lights and free Whitman bumper stickers. There’s also Spanish language reading material.

“There’s quite a few people that’ve been getting involved,” said Vasquez. The campaign organizes precinct walks and phone banking out of the hub.

“Last week we had 10 to 20 people come walk with us and a lot of them were Latino themselves,” he said. 

The campaign also started recruiting local high school volunteers.

“Some of my friends were also gonna come so I thought it would be cool if it was a friend thing to come do,” said Valerie Escobar, 17, who came to phone bank on a rainy Sunday morning after learning about the Whitman campaign through a flier she found at school.

“Plus, I needed the community service hours,” she smiled.

Recruiting local volunteers and creating a presence in east Los Angeles, it’s all part of the Whitman campaign effort to garner the Latino vote. Latinos makes up about 20 percent of California's registered voters.

Gold, of the National Association of Elected Latino Officials, said Whitman understands that “to have any kind of a viable statewide strategy you have to reach out and gain support of Latino voters.”

The question now remains whether the reach out works.  “I think we’re going to have to wait and see when election day comes,” said Gold. “Latinos are waiting to see...is she just talking the talk or is she walking the walk?”

Results from the Nov. 2 election may not answer that question, but they will show how the Whitman campaign fared with the Latino vote and whether future Republicans have a shot with California Latinos.