Harris and Trump campaigns fight for crucial Latino voters in battleground Pennsylvania

Fresh off his vice presidential debate, Tim Walz arrived Wednesday evening at a Puerto Rican restaurant here in southeastern Pennsylvania to speak with Latino voters.

“This thing is going to go all the way down to our ‘blue wall’ states, all the way to Pennsylvania,” the Minnesota governor said at Mofongo restaurant as diners sipped colorful drinks.

“It could go through this restaurant,” he added.

At the same time, a few blocks away, a Donald Trump campaign office was buzzing with activity, as the former president’s Latino supporters made calls in English and Spanish.

Marcia Heras, an Ecuadorian immigrant, drove an hour from Allentown to make calls.

“Familia, la vida y fin de la guerra,” Heras told CNN to explain the longtime conservative’s support for Trump: Family, Life and the End of War.

This snapshot of a dueling outreach effort on a rainy weeknight provides a small glimpse into the crucial importance of the Latino vote to the Trump and Kamala Harris campaigns in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state where the last two presidential elections were decided by a single point.

A growing population

More than a million Hispanic or Latino people live in Pennsylvania, according to recent census data, with the Pew Research Center estimating that 615,000 of them will be eligible to vote in November. Although the state remains majority white, Hispanic or Latino residents now make up about 9% of the population, according to census figures, with growth of more than 40% since 2010.

Much of the growth has occurred in the “222 Corridor”, a group of towns around U.S. Route 222, including Reading, Allentown and Lancaster.

In 2020, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by about 80,000 votes and won the Latino vote, both at the Commonwealth level and nationally. Four years earlier, Trump narrowly won the Keystone State while losing Latino voters to Hillary Clinton.

Although Harris polled well ahead of Trump among registered Latino voters nationwide in a recent NBC News/Telemundo/CNBC poll, 54% to 40%, her 14-point margin lagged behind previous Democratic candidates for president in this demographic group. Biden won Latino voters by 33 points in 2020, while Clinton did so by 38 points.

Even at a recent Harris campaign event in Allentown, signs of this waning support were seen among the vice president’s many enthusiastic supporters.

Hector Santana, who emigrated from the Dominican Republic, told CNN he had voted for Democrats for 20 years but was undecided this year.

“I haven’t decided yet, because the fundamental basis that I have always looked for is which candidate has the interests of the Hispanic people in mind,” Santana said in Spanish. “Today, so far, I haven’t seen that (from any candidate).”

Carmen Dancsecs, a mortgage lender in Bethlehem, said she fears some Latino voters will stay home in November.

“I think there are too many people who are sort of…on troubled waters. They don’t know where they stand,” Dancsecs told CNN.

Several strategies for Harris

The Harris campaign is pursuing several strategies to build support among Pennsylvania’s Latino voters in the final weeks leading up to Election Day.

These include deploying campaign surrogates, securing more Latino celebrity endorsements and investing in more advertising aimed at Latino voters, according to several Harris advisers and allies.

“The more effectively we are able to get the vice president’s message across about who the vice president is and where she comes from, that she is like a fighter, that she has been fighting for the people for a long time and that “She took on bad actors, whether it was big banks during the mortgage crisis, for-profit universities that were ripping off their students…it’s a message that resonates with Latino men and Latinos.” a senior Harris campaign adviser told CNN.

Last month, the campaign announced it was allocating $3 million for new ads on Spanish-language radio from September 15 to October 15.

The campaign is also holding more rallies and events in the battleground state. At a rally last month in Bethlehem, Walz tried to appeal directly to Puerto Rican voters, who make up more than half of eligible Latino voters in Pennsylvania.

“We recognize the painful anniversary of Hurricane Maria, which continues to have a devastating impact. In March, Vice President Harris visited San Juan. She is committed to continuing to support Reconstruction, and when she and I are in the White House, you can count on our support,” Walz said.

“Hamilton” actor Anthony Ramos, who joined Walz at the rally, had a specific message for Latino voters.

“I feel the passion in the room, and so many of you are different colors and races. …We’re all here together, right? This is the reason for our country,” he said. “I want to encourage all of you, don’t just get out and vote, vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

A senior adviser to Harris said that as the campaign seeks more endorsements from Latino celebrities, it will use social media influencers, with large platforms, to help amplify the vice president’s message. president. For example, in August, Harris appeared alongside content creator Carlos Eduardo Espina, who has more than 10 million followers on TikTok, to explain why Latinos should support her.

“When there is an election that is going to be won by the margin, everything counts. And, of course, they’re going to try to do everything they can to get Bad Bunny’s endorsement,” said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator. “But at the same time, we know that the most important thing is to speak directly to those voters during the campaign, whether it’s surrogates or Kamala or Tim Walz.”

Trump also relies on celebrity support

Trump’s campaign also tapped high-profile supporters to attract more Latino voters.

Trump has received support from three well-known reggaeton artists – Nicky Jam, Justin Quiles and Anuel AA – and the latter two appeared with him in August at a rally in Johnstown, in southwestern Pennsylvania.

“To all my Puerto Ricans, let’s stand united, let’s vote for Trump,” Anuel said during his brief remarks. “I personally spoke with (Trump). He wants to help Puerto Rico develop.

Nicky Jam spoke at a Las Vegas rally for Trump, who mistakenly called the singer “she” before inviting her on stage to speak. The artist later deleted his Instagram post supporting the former president, although popular Mexican band Maná later ended its collaboration with him, posting in Spanish that the group “does not work with racists.”

At an August rally in Wilkes-Barre, northeastern Pennsylvania, Trump spoke on stage about Daniel Campo, a Venezuelan-born pilot who became a U.S. citizen in 2022.

Campo is helping the Trump campaign canvass Latino neighborhoods, particularly in Allentown, to talk with voters about the former president’s agenda. He often encounters people who believe Trump is biased against Latinos.

“I say, ‘I’m a Latino. He invited me to speak at his rally,” Campo said, explaining his response. “And not only that, he gave good feedback on me in front of everyone. So if he hated Latinos, first of all, he wouldn’t have had me there. Secondly, he wouldn’t have said all those nice things he said about me afterwards.

Other voters Campo speaks with are concerned about Trump’s “attitude.”

“Are you going to invite (Trump) to your wedding? Are you going to invite him to your birthday party or your child’s birthday party? Campo said he asked them. “They laugh. They laugh a little. They say, “No, not really. »

“I’m like, OK, so you’re hiring him to do a job, right? And they say, ‘Yes,'” Campo said. “You saw him do the job four years ago, and you saw Harris do the job now – where were you best?

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