
Rebecca Contreras, a 30-year-old Texan, intended to vote for President Joe Biden once more, but she wasn’t sure he would prevail. She remarked that her confidence has gradually returned now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the de facto nominee.
The progressive social media marketing specialist from San Antonio stated on Monday, “Perhaps there is hope once more, and our votes have some weight.”
Compared to past election cycles, Democrats were less confident in their ability to win over younger Latinos like Contreras, who are long regarded as trustworthy Democratic supporters.
In 2020, Democrats witnessed the Republican Party and then-President Donald Trump seize a greater portion of the Hispanic vote. The party has been concerned about losing more Latino followers to third-party candidates or to voters who stay home altogether. Polls this year indicated Biden’s continued fall, with the two presidential candidates virtually even among Latinos.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Latino residents become eligible to vote when they become 18 years old, making them younger than the majority of Americans. Just one-third of respondents under 40—including Latinos—who participated in a May study said they would support Biden. According to a University of Chicago GenForward survey, 32% of Latino respondents stated they would support Trump, 28% selected Biden, and 28% said they would support “someone else.”
In April, young Latino college students in Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania told NBC News that few of them endorsed Biden or Trump, even though the majority favored progressive ideas that complemented the Democratic platform.
This year, one in five Hispanic voters will cast their first presidential ballot, according to UnidosUS, a nationwide Latino advocacy organization. Thirty-six percent of the new Latino voters identify as nonpartisan or independent.
They are difficult to win over.
Dennison Pinto, a 19-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania, had considered casting a ballot for an independent candidate. Pinto stated on Monday that he prefers a Democratic president, but he isn’t sure he will support Harris or any other particular contender just yet.
Jeremy Bautista, a 20-year-old native of Allentown, voted in his first local election in Pennsylvania last year. He is still debating if he will cast a ballot this year. Harris is beginning to seem like “one of the better options,” according to Bautista, but he’s not sure if her opinions on economic policy and the Israel-Hamas conflict align with his own.
ASU political professor Stella Rouse told NBC News in April that young voters had “a broad perception that nothing will change and that both parties are the same.” She claimed last week that Harris can enliven young Latinos if she presents “a message of opportunity” and creates an image of a multicultural future America where young Latinos may take the initiative.
Suitability for assistance?
Poder Younger voters expressed a lack of confidence that any presidential candidate or political party would adequately represent them, according to a statement released by NC Action, a progressive organization that mobilizes Latinos in North Carolina. “We are more optimistic than ever,” said 41-year-old creator Irene Godinez, following Biden’s resignation. “Even if we don’t agree with Vice President Harris entirely, we think that a fresh face will be beneficial in this struggle for our survival.”
In a post on X on Monday, Carlos Odio, co-founder of the Democratic polling company Equis Research, stated that preliminary results from a July 11–15 survey of Nevada Latinos indicate Harris is gaining ground on Biden among some of the Latinos who had drifted away, “This notably excludes some who declared they would boycott a rematch between Biden and Trump.”
According to prior polling by his company, Harris has favorable and unfavorable ratings that are comparable to Biden’s, but he performs noticeably better among Latinas—particularly those under 40, who are a crucial swing demographic.
Democratic pollster Matt Barreto’s internal Biden campaign research indicates that Harris is more well-liked than Biden among Latino voters.
According to the polling described in a July 14 letter published online by Barreto and fellow Biden pollster Angie Gutierrez, Harris had a net 46-point lead over Biden among Latinos who indicated they disapproved of Biden and his GOP competitor, Trump.
He claimed that Harris is 16 points more popular than Biden among Latinos between the ages of 18 and 29. The message was first reported by The Hill. According to Barreto, the polling was conducted prior to Biden’s resignation to see if Harris could support Biden’s campaign among Latino voters.
According to Barreto, Harris defeated Rep. Loretta Sanchez for the Senate seat in 2016 after winning the Latino vote in California during her campaigns for attorney general in 2010 and 2014.
As more Latinos become familiar with Barreto, she should be able to counter the media narrative that Democrats are losing their support from this demographic. “She has an opportunity to reverse this narrative,” Barreto said to NBC News on Tuesday.
In addition to Republican attacks, Harris is facing voter dissatisfaction regarding immigration and the high cost of living, which Latinos consistently cite as their top concerns in polls. Though her work concentrated on dealing with Central American countries on the causes of immigration rather than border enforcement, Republicans have mistakenly dubbed her the “border czar.”
Additionally, Harris needs to convince voters who think they don’t know her.
Evelyn Jimenez, 20, of San Antonio, said she was dubious of Harris and was “heartbroken” when Biden resigned. She was thrilled to vote for Biden in her first presidential election.
In these four years, I really didn’t see her accomplish much. Jimenez stated, “I didn’t see that she was involved.”
In March, Harris told NBC News that the difficulty was “to let people know who brought it to them.” Harris has been campaigning this year to strengthen support among Latino voters, praising the administration’s measures.
In a statement, Maca Casado, the media director for Harris’ campaign, said that throughout her career, Harris has aimed to win over Latino voters by focusing on topics related to health care, child care, and combating gun violence.
“With pride, Trump and MAGA are campaigning against immigrants, portraying them as a threat to the rich and powerful. Despite this, they are not making any effort to connect with Latino people,” added Casado. “We will not take their votes for granted, so we are working hard to present our case,” the campaign declared.
“Kamala Harris is most known among Latino-Americans as the original Border Czar, the swing vote that caused inflation to soar, and a dangerously liberal,” said Danielle Alvarez, senior adviser to the Trump campaign, in an NBC News statement. President Trump’s message to our community is straightforward and based on his track record of victory: vote for him if you want to see the strongest economy in over 60 years return, along with growing wages, high-quality employment, secure borders, and safe communities.