Although their population is small compared to other states, Latinos in Minnesota said Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ pick for running mate, has not overlooked them as governor.
Walz’s supporters say the Democratic governor made education and health care more accessible in the state and the workplace more accommodating for families. They also noted that he was the first governor to attend a major Latino cultural event in the state’s capital, St. Paul.
Walz’s relationship with Latinos in the state will be critical when he cites his Midwest experience while campaigning in the battleground states of Arizona, where about of a third of the population is Latino; Nevada (almost 29%); and in other swing states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, where Latino turnout could help decide a tight race.
About 38% of Minnesota Latinos who voted in 2020 backed Donald Trump, according to NBC News’ exit poll.
Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, executive director of Unidos MN, a group that advocates for immigrants, education and climate justice, said Walz’s record reflects that he regards the state’s Latinos, including those in the immigrant community, “as another constituency within working families.”
About 6.1% of Minnesota’s population is Latino and about 98,000 Latinos voted in 2020, according to the UnidosUS Hispanic Electorate Data Hub. Biden won the state in 2020 by 233,012 votes. The majority of Minnesota’s Latinos — about 4 in 5 — are U.S. citizens, with 68% U.S. born and 11% naturalized citizens, according to a 2021 state government report.
The state’s Latino population is largely made up of people of Mexican descent, some whose ancestors first settled in the state in the mid-1900s as migrant workers in the state’s beet fields.
Other Latino groups have followed, including people with roots in Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia and increasingly Venezuela.
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