Latinos are excited about Harris, but she has work to do to win the crucial voting bloc, experts say

Latino voters and leaders say they are enthusiastic about Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, but for her to win their crucial support, they want to know where she stands on issues like the economy, immigration and education.

Vanessa Cruz Nichols, an assistant professor of political science at Indiana University, said Harris has considerable potential to appeal to Latino voters but is going to have to win over independents and those planning not to vote in the November election.

“She’s got some work to do, reintroduce herself, let people know where she stands on a variety of issues,” Cruz said. “She will have to work aggressively to appeal to voters, especially young Latino voters who are even more nonpartisan, more willing to either sit out an election or vote for a third-party candidate.”

As the nation’s largest minority group — 19.5% of the total population, according to the 2020 census — Latinos form a key voting bloc in what’s shaping up to be a tight presidential election. Harris, the daughter of immigrants, has won the backing of influential Latino groups, and some feel her success hinges on energizing young Latino voters.

Maria Teresa, president of Voto Latino, said Harris’ jumping into the race has sparked a “coalescing of the community.” In focus groups that the organization started after President Joe Biden announced he would drop out of the race, more than half of young Latinos who initially said they were voting for a third party said they were shifting to vote for the Democratic Party, Teresa said.

“There is no path to the White House without specifically the young Latino vote,” she said. “Our path to a different direction of the country is through young people.”

More than 6 in 10 Latinos voters supported Biden in 2020, according to AP VoteCast, and 35% supported former President Donald Trump. However, a July poll from Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only about 4 in 10 Latinos said they were somewhat or very optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party, and about one-quarter said the same about the Republican Party.

According to the same survey, Hispanic adults are divided in their opinions on Harris, with 44% holding a favorable view and 43% holding an unfavorable view. But about half of Hispanic adults said they would be satisfied with Harris as the Democratic nominee, up from 15% earlier in July.

After watching the presidential debate between Trump and Biden, Peruvian Mexican small-business owner Guillermo Francisco Cornejo, 35, said he was not going to vote in the presidential election. That changed when Biden stepped down and endorsed Harris. But Cornejo’s decision is mostly guided by fear of what Trump will do if he wins, he said.

“Now it’s like, yeah, for sure I will vote Democrat,” said Cornejo, adding that he sees Harris as “very well-qualified” to be commander in chief. “If Trump gets elected, he’s turning this country into Latin America in the way he does politics and everything.”

On Friday, the League of United Latin American Citizens endorsed Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, through its political arm, the LULAC Adelante PAC, the first time the country’s oldest Latino civil rights group has endorsed a presidential candidate since its founding in 1929.

“We can trust them to do what is right for our community and the country,” Domingo Garcia, chairman of LULAC Adelante PAC and LULAC’s immediate past president, said in a statement. “The politics of hate mongering and scapegoating Latinos and immigrants must be stopped!”

Harris was criticized for comments she made in 2021 telling migrants not to come to the U.S, when she was tasked with overseeing  diplomatic efforts to deal with issues spurring migration in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as well as pressing them to strengthen enforcement on their own borders.

But Harris’ being a daughter of immigrants provides a sense of representation to many Latino families, which could help her get their vote, civic engagement advocates say.

Pascale Small, 35, a Costa Rican American who is a daughter of immigrants and a single mother of three Afro-Latina girls, said Harris appeals to her because of her family’s background and her “commitment to ensuring that we are healing and growing as a country.”

“She has a spirit of service, which I really admire and really appreciate. She has an amazing pursuit of equity and that is really important to me as I am raising my children,” said Small, who wants to see the vice president address issues such as climate change, education, the economy and immigration reform.

Maca Casado, the Hispanic media director with the Harris campaign, said Harris has a record of supporting Latinos and the issues they care about, like health care and gun violence.

“Vice President Harris’ campaign knows Latinos’ political power and is the only campaign working aggressively to make the case because we won’t take their votes for granted,” Casado said.

But Bob Unanue, the Hispanic Leadership Coalition chairman for the America First Policy Institute said Trump — not Harris — continues to show commitment to issues that resonate with the Hispanic community such as job growth, education freedom, parental rights and securing the border.

“Unlike Kamala Harris, who has failed to address the crisis at our southern border … and continues promoting failed economic policies, Trump offers a vision of prosperity and safety that many Hispanic voters are rallying behind,” Unanue said.

Experts have said Harris’ pick of Walz will help the campaign appeal to voters in the important battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Teresa, the Voto Latino president, said in a statement that Walz has a strong record of defending democracy, voting rights and standing up for working families in Minnesota — values that align with those of the Latino community. Harris also has an opportunity to make her case in states like Pennsylvania with a large Puerto Rican population, which as U.S. citizens can vote once they move to a state, Teresa said.

Charlotte Castillo, managing director of Poderistas, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing civic participation by Latinas, said the announcement that Harris would be the Democratic nominee energized so many in the Latino community, which will be critical as in previous elections.

“I think in particular Latinas, typically we like to say, are the CEOs of their families. They are really driving the decisions for their families and have a huge influence on that,” Castillo said. “So, I certainly think that Latinas have the potential to make a real outsized impact.”

Castillo said whichever party is consistent in their outreach to Latino voters will get their vote.

“Once the community is engaged, they remain engaged,” Castillo said. “Both parties need to start knocking on doors and doing it more consistently.”

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AP polling editor Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington, D.C., contributed.

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