With less than three weeks to go until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making their closing statements on the campaign trail, making their last push to appeal to a key and decisive voting bloc— Latinos.
Over 36 million Latinos are eligible to vote in November, representing 15% of eligible voters. They are also a diverse demographic with the second-fastest growth rate among voting blocs, positioning themselves to play a crucial role in deciding who will next occupy the White House, according to a AS/COA report.
Both candidates seem to be aware of the important role Latinos will play on Election Day, stepping up their efforts to court these voters, Axios reports.
For instance, a recently released poll by the Hispanic Federation and Latino Victory Foundation, showed that 64% of Latinos say they've now been contacted by campaigns or get-out-the-vote organizations. The study surveyed 1,900 Latino voters across key states from October 2-10.
That was the first time this year that more than half of those polled by these organizations said they'd heard from the campaigns.
At the same time, 7 out of 10 Latinos polled said they definitely plan to vote on Nov. 5, with as many as 74% saying so in Florida, Michigan, Arizona and Georgia. Pennsylvania, one of the most consequential battlegrounds this cycle, and Wisconsin, another swing state, had a slightly lower number, at 66% and 69% respectively.
"This expected turnout will undoubtedly impact the 2024 election and may very well be decisive in who will win the White House, Senate and House of Representatives," Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, said Tuesday in a press conference.
Both candidates have also stepped up their events geared at Latinos, particularly by appearing at town halls hosted by Univision, where they answered questions from Latino undecided voters on their plans if they were to win the White House.
In Miami, Trump's town hall walked a tightrope as he balanced his anti-immigration rhetoric while also appealing to the electorate. He defended his mass deportation plans, even as he nodded to a need for immigrant labor.
"We want workers, and we want them to come in, but they have to come in legally, and they have to love our country," the Republican presidential candidate said during the event, scheduled to air Wednesday evening. Trump was answering the question of Jorge Velasquez, a farm worker who said most people doing such jobs are undocumented and suggested, if they're deported, food prices will increase.
He has also tried to appeal to voters of Cuban and Venezuelan descent by likening the criminal cases against him to how those countries' regimes treat dissidents.
Harris, in her event, called the country's immigration system "broken" and pointed out that the first bill proposed by the Biden-Harris administration would have created an earned pathway to citizenship for many undocumented immigrants, while also turning to the southern border and reminding voters of the bipartisan border bill Trump helped to kill.
Harris' running mate, Minn. Gov. Tim Walz, also led the launch of "Hombres con Harris" drive last week, which is geared towards Latino men.
Harris currently holds a lead among Latinos, with polls showing a 55% to 60% of support among the electorate, but that margin is lower than that of previous Democratic presidential candidates.
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