Kamala Harris has deep history of appealing to Latino voters
Vice President Kamala Harris is launching her bid for the U.S. presidency with an advantage that former President Trump and President Biden never had: a long history of appealing to Latino voters.
To win crucial swing states, Harris will have to drive Latino turnout in urban centers like Phoenix, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and Detroit.
Harris has a track record of turning out Latino voters in California—which has the country’s largest Hispanic population—in 2010, 2014 and 2016, political analysts say.
Since Biden endorsed Harris for president on Sunday, Latino Democrats like Sen. Alex Padilla (Calif.), U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (Texas) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York) declared their support for her.
Left-leaning Latino groups like Voto Latino and the United Farm Workers quickly announced their endorsement of Harris. BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, also jumped behind her.
“BOLD PAC will remain laser-focused on doing what it takes to ensure that Trump remains a one-term president,”
BOLD PAC Chairwoman Linda Sánchez said in a statement. “Vice President Harris is the leader we stand behind at this critical moment.”
The Harris endorsements come after she’s toured the country, especially in communities of color, to out Biden’s economic policies.
But polls show that a significant number of Latinos nationwide do n’t have an opinion of her — something she’ll need to reverse in a national contest.
Harris won a majority of support from Latino voters in 2010 and 2014 in elections for California’s Attorney General.
In 2016, as she ran to represent California in the U.S. Senate, polls showed Harris breaking even or surpassing the popular Loretta Sanchez, per the polling firm Latino Decisions.
Harris was pushed over the finish line with Latinos thanks to the support of labor icon Dolores Huerta, who would also support Harris during her failed 2020 Democratic presidential run.
Harris faced criticism from some Latinos in 2021 for telling Guatemalans “do not come” to the U.S. on her first international trip as vice president amid a migration increase at the U.S.-Mexico border. Harris was assigned to tackle the root causes of migration.
Some activists felt ella’s remarks were insensitive and a change from her previous campaign speeches, in which she had defended undocumented migrants.
Latino and Black parents also attacked Harris for an anti-truancy program she pushed for in the state legislature when she was California’s attorney general.
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