A new poll by the Hispanic Federation and Latino Victory Project revealed that Democratic candidate Kamala Harris leads Republican candidate Donald Trump has a sizeable lead in voter intentions among Latinos in swing states, 54% to 33%, with 9% still undecided. While that would seem like a wide enough margin, the truth is that the vice president still lags behind historic Latino-vote threshold Democrats which is usually around the 64% mark.
Furthermore, as most poll averages show extremely tight races, time is running out to go after coveted voters with which Harris has had problems during the election cycle, especially young Latino voters which have shifted towards Trump's policies on economic issues.
With all this in mind, Latino political and business leaders in Pennsylvania have raised concerns that Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is not sufficiently engaging Latino voters, potentially jeopardizing her chances of defeating Donald Trump in the state, as Politico reports. Pennsylvania is, after all, the biggest swing state of them all with 19 electoral votes in play.
The state also has approximately 580,000 registered Latino voters, and even moderate shifts in this group could have a significant impact on the state's election results.
The Harris campaign has dedicated resources to Latino outreach in Pennsylvania, including $2 million in Spanish-language TV ads and a team of 30 staffers. In comparison, the Trump campaign has spent $175,000 on Spanish-language ads and has one staffer focused on Latino outreach. Nevertheless, locals like Victor Martinez, owner of a Spanish-language radio station, are voicing concerns about Harris' ability to connect with Latino voters:
"Yes, I am concerned, I am worried. ... The Harris campaign needs to continue and do better at getting to the community, getting them out to vote. Trump has created a macho persona, a personality that is very attractive to the Latino man, and I can say this because I am a Latino man."
Two other anonymous sources consulted by Politico also echoed Martinez' concerns. An elected official complained that "they (Democrats) need to be ramping up with the Latinos" even more in the closing weeks, while another Latino leader in the state said they were worried about "getting Latino men over whatever issues they have about electing a woman as president — that's on a lot of people's minds."
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