Both parties duel for Latino voters in battleground Nevada
RENO, Nev. — As Vice President Kamala Harris answered a question at this month’s Univision town hall about immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children, Elvira Diaz began to applaud.
RENO, Nev. — As Vice President Kamala Harris answered a question at this month’s Univision town hall about immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children, Elvira Diaz began to applaud.
Sitting with other Harris supporters at a watch party at Taqueria Jalisco in Reno, with Harris campaign signs that read “¡Cuando Luchamos Ganamos!” (“When we fight, we win!”) lining the walls, Diaz had been waiting to hear the vice president talk about so-called Dreamers, as such immigrants are known.
But she's worried other Latino voters aren’t hearing Harris’ message.
“I really want her to be louder about it, because she knows what she’s talking about,” said Diaz, an activist and a Mexican immigrant, who donned a Harris campaign button and an American flag headband at the watch party. "And I want the Dreamers and the immigrants to know about her. That way she can win the election."
Latino voters like Diaz are a crucial piece of an electorate in Nevada and other battleground states, including Arizona and Pennsylvania, that will help determine which party controls the White House and Congress. In 2020, Latino voters made up 17 percent of the state’s electorate, and President Joe Biden won them by 26 points, according to NBC News exit polling. Two years ago, Latino voters were key to Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s close re-election victory, and she carried them by 33 points.
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