Kamala Harris is discreet about the fact that she is Black and South Asian American. Even when it comes to Latino voters, she avoids discussing theirs.
It’s a huge change in strategy for Democrats trying to win over Latino voters this season, and it challenges the long-held notion among many Democrats that making explicit racial appeals and advocating progressive immigration policies are crucial to capturing Latino support.
But, in an effort to steer clear of identity politics, Harris is courting Latino voters in states such as Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, following the Democratic Party’s loss of support from Latinos over the past decade.
Ads for Harris’s campaign that target Latinos who speak English and Spanish focus on issues like crime, high drug prices, and the economy in those areas. Earlier this week, Harris voiced her support for increasing the number of immigration agents stationed at the border and taking measures to reduce the importation of fentanyl into the United States in a radio interview that was broadcast in Spanish.
During a recent stop on the Harris campaign’s bus tour advocating for abortion rights, the first Latino mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Matt Tuerk, made the statement, “The Harris campaign understands what we’ve been saying about Latinos for a long time, which is that we’re not a monolith.” Allentown is a predominantly Latino community. Every one of us is an American. We share many of the same fundamental principles as all Americans.
According to Latino strategists from both political parties, the tactic showcases the diverse team working for Harris. One example is campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez, who happens to be the granddaughter of Cesar Chávez, a civil rights activist and labor leader. They also think it shows that the candidate has experienced being stereotyped because of their gender or race. Finally, we have the political aspect: Democrats’ vulnerability on immigration is a problem, and in response to the attacks on immigrants that have been a feature of Donald Trump’s campaigns since his 2016 presidential campaign, Harris has taken a hard line on the border.
“With Latino voters, this campaign is 180 degrees different than any other Democratic candidate in history,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who concentrates on Latinos and was a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project. “It took a Black woman to help the Democratic Party break their headlock they’d put themselves in on identity politics,” the writer writes, “and I think it’s a beautiful irony.”
From Puerto Rican and Dominican communities in Pennsylvania to Mexican Americans in Arizona and Nevada, the strategists claimed the campaign’s approach shows a sophisticated knowledge of the Latino diaspora in the US, something that has been lacking in Democratic politics for a long time. As an example, the campaign has just finished filming a commercial featuring Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania-born Puerto Rican radio presenter Victor Martinez; the ad will only be airing in Spanish in the Philadelphia, Allentown, and Reading media regions.
The representative from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, expressed her concern for diasporas and the need to approach the issue from a diaspora perspective rather than the one-size-fits-all approach that is commonly discussed and, regrettably, implemented in many different regions. “Therefore, I believe that the fruits of that improved strategy will become apparent over time.”
Part of the reason Harris is moving away from progressive rhetoric on the border is because she is following in President Biden’s footsteps. After a bipartisan deal to secure the border failed in Congress, he angered many progressives by taking executive measures to limit asylum seekers.
On the other hand, Harris’s harsh rhetoric on the border has been even more pronounced. She frequently mentions her support for the border security plan that Trump’s Republican supporters in Congress shelved, and she boasts about how she “took on transnational criminal organizations” when serving as attorney general of California, a border state. In her campaign ad titled “Tougher,” she pledges to increase the number of border agents by “thousands” if elected president.
There has been a price to pay. Harris’ border rhetoric has irritated some left-wing Latino activists, who feel her immigration reform policies are vague and don’t go beyond a “earned pathway to citizenship.” The experts say it could hurt her chances of winning the election.
“The Democratic Party has reverted to its neoconservative stance on the negative impact of immigrants and the drugs they bring.” The Nevada director for the immigrant rights group Make the Road Action, who has endorsed Harris, Leo Murrieta, stated, “It is a drastic misstep for Democrats up and down the ballot.” He added that there is now very little difference on immigration between Republicans and Democrats. The rhetoric surrounding the border is, to be honest, putting a damper on that enthusiasm. The fire will not be extinguished, but it will not be fueled either.
After Trump made gains among Latinos during the previous presidential election, Harris is still fighting to regain their support. Even though her position among Latinos has significantly improved since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, she is still behind Biden’s 2020 totals; for example, a Wednesday Entravision survey showed Harris ahead of Trump by 55% to 33%. Democratic performance with Latinos was considerably stronger prior to 2020, when 61% of Latino voters favored Biden. In 2016, Hillary Clinton received 66% of the Latino vote, whereas in 2012, Barack Obama received over 70% of the Latino vote.
While campaigning, Harris does bring up immigration. And Latino audiences are usually the ones she performs for. She spoke out against Trump’s family separation policy in a Tuesday interview that broadcast on Spanish-language radio, pledging to “take care of” Dreamers and “provide a pathway to citizenship for those who have earned it.” Furthermore, she criticized Trump for his demand for “mass deportations” at a speech she gave on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.
It reflects the “more balanced” approach to immigration that Harris is attempting to adopt, according to Carlos Odio, co-founder of Equis Research, which is “about acknowledging both the need for order at the border and a humane, practical approach to dealing with people who are already here.”
“[It] stands in stark contrast to Trump’s more belligerent plans, particularly when you come to support the mass expulsion of individuals who have been employed and residing in this country for many years,” Odio stated. “Those are very divisive.”
The campaigns are “heavily cross-pressuring” a “narrow but critical” set of Latino voters who are “softly choosing one side or the other,” according to Odio.
Moreover, according to an anonymous Harris campaign advisor, the receptive Latinos would like to hear more on border security from the candidate.
The data I’ve seen shows that there is still a fairly high amount of Latinos who are still getting to know her,” said Harris pollster Matt Barreto. “I anticipate that we will keep seeing two to three point increases every two to three weeks as long as that campaign continues and she continues to address the Latino community.”
At a Latino-focused rally in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley this weekend, Harris’ running partner, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will be joined by actors Anthony Ramos and Liza Colón-Zayas. In addition to Chavez Rodriguez, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) going to a super middleweight bout in Las Vegas between Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga, this is the next event in the campaign’s Hispanic Heritage Month series.
In the coming month, the Harris campaign will spend $3 million on new radio advertising that are exclusive to the Spanish language. The campaign is putting its emphasis on sports programming because, according to the aide, that’s where it thinks it can reach the most unengaged but potentially swayed Latino voters. A WhatsApp channel called “Latinos con Harris-Walz” was also recently launched as part of the campaign.
“Where can you go?’ is a question that the campaign asks repeatedly. When are you available to go? Your mission is to go out into the world. The chair of the congressional hispanic caucus, Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), expressed the need to ensure that representatives serving as surrogates be out in the field. “Reaching out and making personal connections are key for Latinos.”
Even said, Harris’s congressional supporters concede that Harris has a delicate balancing act in winning over Latino voters.
The Latino community as a whole is committed to passing immigration reform, but we recognize the difficulty of the task and are prepared to work toward a partial solution. Because of that, it hasn’t been executed for many years. It is my firm belief that border security is an issue that must be tackled directly. “We want to make sure that the asylum is humane and that it continues to exist, but it also needs to be orderly,” Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) stated regarding the issues. “I believe she’s skillfully navigating the situation and I think she’s performing admirably.”
