As the 2024 general election shapes up to be a toss up contest, battleground states are getting increasing attention from press, candidates and the electorate alike as they could play decisive role in who the next president of the U.S. will be. Because of this, a highly Latino town in Pennsylvania thinks they can make a difference ahead of November.
In Reading, Pennsylvania religious Latinos play an influential role in their communities given the town's population is almost 70% Latino, according to the Associated Press.
"Right now, with the growing Latino population and the influx of Latinos moving into cities such as Reading, it's definitely an opportunity for the Latino vote to change the outcome of an election," the town's mayor, Eddie Moran, a Latino Catholic migrant, said. "It's not a secret anymore."
Reading, a city about 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia that was once synonymous with iron and steel, has a population of about 95,000 people, and is about 67% Latino, according to U.S. Census figures. It is also home to a high concentration of people of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage, as well as Colombians and Mexicans.
This is just one of the reasons political candidates are taking notice of the city's economic and political power, according to the Associated Press.
Likewise, Pennsylvania has recently been a political hub. The 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania was decided by about 82,000 votes, and according to the Pew Research Center, there are more than 600,000 eligible Latino voters in the state.
The industrial town leans Democratic, with Biden winning by a landslide in 2020 of about 46 percentage points. But this year, the Trump campaign is working to flip it, recently teaming up with the Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania GOP to open a "Latino Americans for Trump" office in a red-brick building near the Democratic mayor's downtown office.
Because of this, Mayor Moran has urged Biden and other Democrats to take notice of the town and visit it before the election.
"I think it's still predominantly Democratic," he says. "But the candidates need to come out and really explain that to the community."
Among city residents, immigration is a top issue.
Luis Hernandez, 65, born in Puerto Rico, says too many immigrants are arriving in the U.S., including some he considers criminals. He also says so much has changed since his Dominican-born father arrived in the 1960s— whe, he says, it was easier to enter and stay in America.
Similarly, German Vega, 41, a Dominican American who became a citizen in 2015 says top issues include "economy, immigration and abortion." He describes himself as "pro-life", voted for Trump in 2020 and plans to do so again in November.
"Biden doesn't know what he's saying. He doesn't know what he's doing, and we have a country divided," Vega says. Trump is "a person of character... He looks confident. He never gives up; he's always fighting for what he believes."
Reading is not the only religious town poised to play a decisive role in the upcoming elections. In fact, according to an in-depth piece by Chrisitanity Today, a rise in Hispanic evangelical congregations will likely complicate election projections.
That piece highlights younger generations of Hispanic Christians reshaping the landscape with a greater interest in social justice issues that fit with their fair commitments.
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