National Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off this weekend, Sept. 15 – Oct. 15, and the Harris-Walz campaign took full advantage, targeting Latinos and Hispanics with Spanish-speaking ads. While these demographics do tend to vote Democrat, and the vice president has a lot of supporters from those communities, recent trends show that the tide may be changing, and the presidential hopeful has more work to do to secure those votes - but can she?
Harris and Latinos
A CNN exit poll revealed that Joe Biden won 65% of Hispanic votes compared to Donald Trump’s 32% in the 2020 election. However, those four years have seen a change in this demographic. In a New York Times/Siena poll, Harris is trailing by ten points with Latinos, compared to Biden in 2020. A recent Pew Research study showed Trump has been gaining with Hispanic voters, and some analysts suggest Harris will need two-thirds of Latino voters to win.
A new poll from August, released by Latino advocacy group UnidosUS and conducted by BSP Research - a Democratic polling firm - consisted of 3,000 Latino poll takers. The co-founder, Matt Baretto, is also a pollster for Harris and 25% of respondents took the survey in Spanish. The results indicated 59% of those questioned would vote for Harris if the election were held today, while 32% said they would vote for Trump. The VP drew 64% of voters in Spanish-dominant households and 54% in bilingual homes. However, in English-dominant Latino households, Harris’ lead over Trump drops to 51-38.
As both presidential candidates know, securing swing state votes is critical to winning the 2024 election. Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania are especially important when it comes to Hispanic voters. In Pennsylvania, for example, there are more than 600,000. However, nationwide, 55% of Latinos say neither Harris nor Trump have reached out to them. “Harris' campaign has held fewer events focused on Latino voter outreach, even as it has blasted a $3 million investment into Spanish-language radio ads and started a WhatsApp channel,” USA Today reported.
Over the weekend, the Harris-Walz campaign launched its largest program yet, spending $3 million to reach Latinos, using Spanish-language radio ads and other pushes that will be aired around boxing matches and basketball games with the kickoff of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Harris will address the Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual conference on Wednesday, September 18, while her running mate, Tim Walz, plans to campaign to Latinos in the swing states over the next few weeks.
In Michigan, a “Latinos con Harris-Walz” event will feature Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez headlining a call-a-thon to reach 500,000 voters in 30 days. Officials said a WhatsApp channel by the same name was launched last month to reach voters who, they say, may be receiving misinformation and disinformation about the Harris platform. Furthermore, billboards with “Luchadora” splashed across the surface aim to inform Latinos about Harris’ work on the border and her record of fighting cartels as California state attorney general.
Is It Enough?
Will all this effort be enough? Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the lead pastor of New Season, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, author of You Are Next!, and executive producer of the movie Breakthrough, wrote an op-ed for Fox that outlines the reasons why Harris will have a hard time getting some Latino voters.
Abortion
Abortion is a hot topic, but, according to Rodriguez, the left is disconnected from Latinos on this issue. “The party has made this election about abortion without addressing the issue in a way that resonates with Latinos,” he wrote. “The Democratic Party has now shifted dramatically to an ‘abortion on demand’ policy, which includes late-term abortions up to the ninth month. This extreme position deeply unsettles many Latinos, particularly those of faith.”
Freezing Food Prices
Rodriguez says Harris’ suggested policies remind people why they fled their home countries in the first place. He explained:
“The vice president's word remind us of the failed socialist and communist regimes in Latin America - Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, Daniel Ortega, Fidel Castro - leaders whose policies led to economic collapse and widespread suffering. Latinos fled these countries, risking everything to pursue the American Dream. Hearing similar rhetoric from a candidate for the highest office in the land serves as a stark reminder of why we left our homelands and why we cannot allow America to follow that same destructive path.”
Parental rights
Some blue states – like Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington – have laws allowing officials to remove a child from the home if the parents refuse to recognize the child’s choice of gender identity. Rodriguez points out that Latinos are very family-orientated. He explained: “When the state has this kind of power, it not only becomes morally reprehensible but also contradicts the values of the Constitution and our God-given rights as parents.”
Open Border Policies
The pastor criticized the party for allowing more than 11 million illegal immigrants into the country over the past three years, endangering communities. “These policies have empowered cartels, flooded our streets with fentanyl, and brought violence into our communities,” he wrote. “Venezuelan gang members have entered our nation, contributing to rising crime rates, with little to no pushback from the administration, all for political gain.”
The fifth reason was simply that Harris had the opportunity to choose a Latino running mate but did not take it.
While the Harris-Walz campaign can count on a lot of Latino voters, the political landscape is shifting and they can no longer take for granted the level of support Democrats traditionally enjoy. With the swing states hanging in the balance, and as Trump gains ground in Latino communities, the vice president will need to do more than just reach out if she wishes to secure the 2024 presidential election.
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