Kamala Harris again on Latino mobilization tour in the West
After Las Vegas, the Democratic candidate is in Phoenix on Thursday afternoon, in the predominantly Latino neighborhood of Maryvale, west of the city, for a speech preceded by a concert with an orchestra very popular among Mexican-Americans, The Northern Tigers. At the end of the campaign, Democrats flock to Arizona. The state was won in 2020 by Joe Biden with the lowest margin in the country (less than 11,000 votes).
Latinos make up a quarter of the electorate. According to polls, they are no longer as solidly Democratic as they were at the beginning of the decade. But we must be careful with generalizations, warns Alejandra Gómez, director of Lucha (Living united for change in Arizona), an association of young Latinos founded in 2015 after Republican attacks against undocumented immigrants. “Arizona is not Texas or Florida. Latino voters are quite progressive on issues such as reproductive rights, racial discrimination, and health care.explains.
Lucha conducted an in-depth survey of the state’s Latino electorate. According to the study, conducted among 1,028 voters between April and May (with a margin of error of 3 points), and published on October 15, almost 87% of voters were born in the United States. Of them, 30% have parents who were born in the country. 46.4% identify as Democrats, 19.2% as Republicans and 28% as independents, a figure that is increasing. “Latinos, including men, are not turning to Trump. They are more among the independents”says Alejandra Gómez. Democrats have every reason to be concerned about this progression. “Demography is not destiny”warns.
According to Alejandra Gómez, Kamala Harris suffered due to her delay in entering the race, while Republicans have been flooding social media for months with messages about the overflow of migrants at the border. Initial enthusiasm for the vice president “a little cracked”confirms Analise Ortiz, 31, elected Democrat since 2022 in the state assembly. The parliamentarian, however, attributes to the vice president’s team a less conventional campaign than the traditional meetings with mariachis in Mexican restaurants.
On September 28, Democrats held a car rally. low rider in the parking lot of a local high school. “Many people came to show their trucks and talk about the elections” before speeding off to submit your early voting ballots, say hello. The challenge for Kamala Harris, a member of an administration in power for four years, continues to be reaching young people who do not go out to vote because they do not feel represented. Hence Thursday’s concert with the Tigres del Norte.
