Manny Pacquiao: 'I helped' Jerry Brown and Nevada's Harry Reid win elections -- Los Angeles Times

By Lance Pugmire, Los Angeles Times

Manny Pacquiao didn't make his boxing trainer, Freddie Roach, too happy last week when he announced he'd be leaving after a workout Friday to board a flight to Las Vegas.

Pacquiao, a congressman in the Philippines, had some important political work to tend to: campaigning for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

"[Reid] was behind 4% in the polls before I got out there," Pacquiao told The Times on Wednesday before a workout at Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, where he's preparing for his Nov. 13 junior-middleweight title fight against Mexico's Antonio Margarito. "There's a lot of Filipinos in Las Vegas."

Population figures show an estimated 30,000 Filipinos in Las Vegas, with perhaps triple that in all of Nevada. Reid defeated Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle by 40,000 votes, with three-fourths of Asians reporting at exit polls that they voted for Reid.

Pacquiao smiled at the thought of how the assistance he provided a major Washington player could benefit his country in the future.

"I also helped Brown here," Pacquiao said, referring to the governor-elect who defeated Meg Whitman by a more lopsided margin Tuesday. "I helped him campaign. I gave a message to the Filipino community to support Gov. Brown, and they did."

Another boost to future Pacific relations.

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com