One way or another, the U.S. Supreme Court’s looming decision on Arizona’s immigration law is expected to affect the presidential race and down-ticket battles in Arizona and other states.

If, as some court-watchers expect, the justices uphold controversial elements of the state law, known as Senate Bill 1070, President Obama’s re-election efforts and the campaign of Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Richard Carmona could be lifted by energized Latino voters angered by the decision.

If the high court strikes down key pieces of SB 1070, it’s possible that the Republican presidential nominee and other GOP candidates could benefit from a backlash directed at the Obama administration’s decision to sue Arizona over the law. Some experts say border-security advocates are already mobilized.

While no one expects immigration to eclipse the economy as the dominant political issue of the year, the SB 1070 decision could pick the scab off an emotional issue that so far has barely registered in the presidential race.

Reverberations from the ruling are expected to pack an extra punch in potential swing states with large Hispanic populations such as Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia.

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