While Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump may have managed to thoroughly offend Latinos with his anti-Mexican rhetoric, the party's 2008 nominee is asking Latinos for support as he campaigns for his re-election to the U.S. Senate.

John McCain, who wants to serve a sixth term in the chamber, launched the "Unidos con McCain" coalition to appeal to Hispanic voters, which make up as much as 20 percent of the electorate in Arizona, NBC News said based on a report from the the Latino advocacy group One Arizona.

"I've always had very good support from the Hispanic community, and my relationship has been intense and very helpful to me and my work," the 79-year-old senator told the network. "And I will do everything I can to maintain that support, and it's very important and vital to me, not just numbers-wise, but the wonderful relationships that I've had all these years."

The efforts seem to already have born fruit, as Lea Márquez-Peterson, a prominent businesswoman who heads the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, has signed on to "Unidos con McCain" and serves the group as its co-chair. Márquez-Peterson insisted that McCain has done a lot to help Arizona small business owners, many of whom have a Hispanic background,.

"He's been very responsive and very engaged with the Latino business community, and I think he really understand the challenges we've gone through during this recent recession," the entrepreneur noted.

McCain himself, meanwhile, has acknowledged the critical role Hispanics play in the present and future of the Republican party, Vanguardia pointed out.

"The demographic increase makes the Latino voter so much more important than in the past," the Republican senator noted. "I don't believe that any Republican can be elected in the United States without a percentage of the Hispanic vote."

But it approach was not just strategic, he cautioned. "We share many values," McCain said, listing "support for small business, the U.S. military and the family" as some of the common beliefs.