Allentown, Pennsylvania
CNN
—
Every weekday morning, DJ VJ Mar takes to the microphone to break down the latest in pop culture, celebrity gossip, political news, and more.
But on a recent Tuesday morning, he had a special guest.
“How important is the Latino vote here in Pennsylvania to the Biden-Harris campaign?” DJ VJ Mar asked guests live on air.
“It’s very important,” Vice President Kamala Harris responded emphatically.
The vice president appeared on La Mega, a Spanish-language radio station in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, where he criticized former President Donald Trump and touted his administration’s efforts on the economy, immigration, abortion and more.
“This, to me, is a signal that[President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign]wants to involve the Latino community in Pennsylvania,” DJ VJ Ma (real name Victor Martinez) said in an interview with CNN.
Martinez believes both sides need to prioritize Latinos here in Pennsylvania, which will once again be one of the most closely watched states in the presidential race.
“I think the Latino vote could be the deciding factor,” Martinez said.
From his studio in Allentown, Martinez has watched the Latin American audience rapidly grow throughout the Rust Belt, a working-class stronghold of southeastern and central Pennsylvania.
According to recent census data, more than 1 million people of Hispanic or Latino descent live in the commonwealth. Pennsylvania’s Hispanic/Latino population has increased by more than 40% since 2010.
Although the white population remains overwhelmingly large in the state, it has declined slightly over the same period.
Much of the growth occurred in the so-called “222 Corridor,” a cluster of cities surrounding U.S. Route 222, including Reading, Allentown, Lancaster and York.
As it grew, so did its electoral power.
An estimated 615,000 Latinos in Pennsylvania are eligible to vote in November’s election, according to the Pew Research Center.
In 2020, Biden defeated Trump in Pennsylvania by about 80,000 votes, and a recent CNN poll shows the presidential race will be close again this year.
But while Biden did well to win the Latino vote in Pennsylvania and across the country in 2020, some argue that his support may be declining.
“There may be some Latinos who are not fully in favor of Biden. They are keeping their options open for the possibility of voting for Trump,” Martinez said.
“They’re taking it for granted when it comes to the Latino vote,” said Democratic Cynthia Mota, Allentown’s first Latino City Council president.
Mota fully supports Biden in November, but unless his campaign and party do more, Latino turnout will not increase enough to vote Republican. I am concerned that this may be the case.
“I believe we are all going to be at risk,” Mota said, calling for more resources and investment in the voting bloc.
“If you give us a good reason to vote, we will vote in droves,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign says it is investing time and resources to ensure that Pennsylvania’s Latinos are not taken for granted, and interviews like the one Harris gave to La Mega This is the proof.
The administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Xavier Becerra, also visited the Allentown area last month, touring medical facilities and touting the Affordable Care Act and the administration’s health care efforts.
The campaign also pointed to a new initiative called “Latinx Con Biden” aimed at mobilizing Latino voters across the commonwealth and other key battleground states.
This includes a $30 million spring ad acquisition in English, Spanish and Spanglish with “regional accents” depending on the state.
Matt Barrett, Biden’s pollster, said the majority of Latinos in Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley are Puerto Rican, but there are also growing numbers of Dominican and Mexican immigrants.
“It’s a very interesting and diverse electorate, and we need to understand that diversity in order to win,” Barreto told CNN.
“You can’t just display the Puerto Rican flag at every activity. It won’t resonate with Dominicans, Central Americans, or Mexicans.”
But some recent polls show Trump improving his standing among Hispanic and Latino voters across the country, and some Republicans see an opportunity.
“I’ve seen a shift, a shift, from the idea that all Latinos have to be Democrats to, ‘You know what?’ If you want a better economy, change. We need that,” Berks County Commissioner Michael Rivera said in an interview with CNN.
The elected Republican calls himself a “Dutch Rican” because his mother is Pennsylvanian-Dutch and his father is Puerto Rican.
Rivera said some efforts are underway across the state to improve support for Latinos, but Biden’s support could decline if his party does more. He said he believed that.
“You can’t chase the Latino vote three months before an election. It has to be something that’s there year-round. We need to reach out to the Latino community and understand who they are and what they represent. We need to understand what we’re doing,” Rivera said.
“In 2020, Joe Biden’s perverse idea of helping Hispanics was playing Despacito,” Trump campaign spokesperson Daniel Alvarez said in a statement to CNN.
“Now we really understand how Despacito is Despacito.” [sic] Biden is. Democrats take Hispanic communities for granted, and Crooked Joe’s failed policies will lead to rising costs, record inflation, bloodshed on Biden’s border, increased crime in our neighborhoods, and the end of the American dream. ,” the statement continued.
The Republican National Committee recently outlined in a memo that it would focus on reaching out to voters who have been “habitually overlooked” by the Republican Party, but gave no details on pursuing Latino immigrants. .
Regardless of the potential outreach, many Pennsylvania Latino voters CNN spoke to remain dissatisfied with President Trump’s rhetoric against immigrants and immigrant communities.
At a rally in Michigan on Tuesday, President Trump described the immigrants coming across the border as men of “military age,” adding: “This is changing our country, threatening our country, and destroying our country.” . They destroyed our country. ”
President Trump said at a rally in December that immigrants who cross the border illegally are “tainting the blood of our country.”
People CNN spoke to said issues and policies will be more important when voting.
Angie Chapman is a Republican, Trump supporter, and longtime Hazleton resident.
An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, she told CNN she would vote for Trump because of his strength on the economy and immigration.
But she said Democrats have better support for Latinos than her own party.
“[Democrats] Register people, they have a lot [voter] It’s a registration application,” Chapman said. “[Republicans] Must do it!
Fermin Diaz, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for Hazleton City Council last year, said he is an ardent supporter of Biden because he believes the economy is improving and the current president will protect democracy. .
“For better or worse, even if we lose the election, we will transfer power without any problem,” Diaz said.
But Juan Martinez is still unsure.
Mr. Martinez is a small business owner from Easton, Pennsylvania, and an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.
He doesn’t care about Trump’s rhetoric, he told CNN: “I’m a blue-collar guy, so I use rough language,” but he wants a president with “the right values and morals.” .
But they feel the immigration system isn’t working and they don’t feel the economy has fully recovered since the pandemic.
“We need new blood. We need someone who will continue to move America forward,” Martinez said.
But he said his vote would be up for grabs if either candidate gave him a good reason to support him.
“That’s why we’re in this country. In search of better opportunities, we’re willing to throw away the crap and focus on our people and moving our country forward to help realize the American Dream.” We are looking for candidates who can focus.”
CNN’s Bonnie Cupp contributed to this report.
