Kamala Harris appeals to Latino voters as ‘daughter of an immigrant mother’

Since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden to lead the Democratic ticket for the U.S. presidential election, the election campaign has had to reinvent itself to face a totally different scenario. In this new context, the 36.2 million Latinos who are eligible to vote are once again the focus of the Democrats.

The Harris campaign launched a new ad on Thursday, in Spanish and English, to win over Latino voters in the swing states that will be key to deciding who wins the race for the White House. Under the title “Determination,” the 60-second spot highlights that Harris’ mother was an immigrant and seeks to convince Latino voters of the similarities they have with the vice president. “As the daughter of an immigrant mother, like our community, Vice President Harris knows the power of determination. It’s why throughout her life she’s taken on violent criminals, big banks, and greedy corporations — and won,” Harris senior spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement. The ad seeks to capitalize on the momentum following the change in the Democratic ticket “to earn the support of the Latino vote,” he added.

The launch of the ad coincides with Harris’ tour of battleground states across the U.S. She is visiting seven states with her newly chosen running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. In several of these states, the Latino community is set to tip the balance, either in favor of Harris, or in favor of Republican candidate, Donald Trump. In Arizona, 25% of voters are Latino. Biden won the state in 2020, with a slim lead of just 11,000 votes. The votes of a few undecided voters can be decisive, and this year there are 150,000 more Latinos who will be able to go to the polls in that state.

During his campaign, Biden addressed Latinos at an event in Phoenix, where he acknowledged that he “desperately” needed their support. Harris has also campaigned in the border state advocating for women’s reproductive rights, knowing that the majority of Latinas support the right to abortion. The new ad, in fact, also presents Harris as a defender of women’s reproductive freedom, and argues that she pushed pharmaceutical companies to lower costs for insulin and prescriptions. The spot will also be shown in Nevada, another state where the Latino vote will be decisive, as the community makes up 22% of the total electorate.

Immigration is one of the issues that will most influence the votes of millions of Latinos. A recent survey by the UnidosUS lobby showed that although the economy is the biggest issue, eight out of 10 responded that immigration policy will affect their vote.

For months, the Biden campaign was criticized for not addressing immigration, but now, under Harris, this issue is taking center stage. Muñoz said that “Vice President Harris will use that same determination to beat Donald Trump, who is proudly running on an anti-Latino platform that demonizes immigrants, raises costs, and would make our communities less safe.”

The new Democratic add to Latinos will be broadcast on television, radio and digital platforms, and aired during shows with great reach in the Latino community, such as the Olympic Games, Major League Baseball games, game shows, soap operas and soccer league games.

The crisis that broke out on the U.S. border with Mexico due to the massive arrival of migrants last year has been a recurring theme in Trump’s campaign. On several occasions, the Republican has described the Latinos fleeing their countries and seeking to enter the United States as “criminals.” However, a good number of Latino voters are supporters of Trump because they are in favor of the former president’s stronger border control.

In response to the controversy sparked by Trump’s insults toward migrants at various events, the Republican candidate announced at a rally in Las Vegas last June that its Hispanic outreach had changed its name from “Latinos for Trump” to “Latino Americans for Trump.” “The campaign wants to support President Trump in the idea of uniting all communities under the same banner to make America great again,” Jaime Florez, spokesman for the Republican committee, told EL PAÍS about the change. “Above all, we are Americans and that is what unites us,” he added.

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