Democrats ramp up efforts to turn out Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania
Noted Puerto Rican actors rallied in Bethlehem and hundreds of Latino canvassers knocked on doors in Lancaster over the weekend as Democrats aimed to mobilize voters in predominantly Hispanic cities in Pennsylvania who have previously skipped elections.
Noted Puerto Rican actors rallied in Bethlehem and hundreds of Latino canvassers knocked on doors in Lancaster over the weekend as Democrats aimed to mobilize voters in predominantly Hispanic cities in Pennsylvania who have previously skipped elections.
Latino voters in the battleground state, especially those who are of Puerto Rican descent, are less likely to pledge their unconditional loyalty to specific presidential candidates compared with the general voting population in Pennsylvania — making them “one of the few voting groups where there’s a chance of either mobilizing them or changing their minds,” Michael Jones-Correa, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told NBC News.
More than half of the nearly 580,000 eligible Latino voters in Pennsylvania are of Puerto Rican descent. Considering that the last presidential election in the state was decided by less than 81,000 votes, Puerto Rican voters "could be decisive" this year if they turn out, according to the Latino Policy & Politics Institute at UCLA.
Latino voter turnout has remained the lowest of all major racial and ethnic groups in the state, according to data from the institute. Just over half of Latinos turned out to vote in Pennsylvania in the last presidential election, compared with two-thirds of all eligible voters.
Saturday's rally with Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Waltz coincided with the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
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