More big news out of Nevada:
Las Vegas immigration reform advocate and DREAMer Astrid Silva has endorsed Catherine Cortez Masto in the U.S. Senate race.
The endorsement gives Cortez Masto an ally who has been on the national stage. Silva spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July. Cortez Masto, a former Nevada attorney general, is running on the Democratic ticket against U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., for the open seat of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
“In Nevada, the choice is clear. As our senator, Catherine Cortez Masto will stand with immigrants and push for a permanent solution to our country’s broken immigration system,” Silva said in a statement. “She supports a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants with deep roots in this country.”
After the convention, Silva garnered headlines when Donald Trump Jr., the son of the GOP presidential nominee, was asked by a KSNV-TV, Channel 3 reporter whether Silva should be concerned that his father might deport her. Trump Jr. called it a “possibility.”
High turn out with Latino voters is the key to helping Cortez Masto become Nevada’s first Hispanic U.S. Senator along with helping Hillary Clinton become president. The latest poll shows Clinton already outpacing Donald Trump with Latino voters:
Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump among Hispanics in Florida, 53 percent to 34 percent, according to a new survey by conducted the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative released on Thursday.
The organization polled where Latinos stand in the presidential race in five key battleground states: in addition to Florida, Hispanic voters in Ohio, Colorado, Nevada and North Carolina were included polled from September 15-September 19.
As has been the case in other polls, Clinton’s lead with the Latino vote is slightly slimmer than the margins that President Obama received in his victories in Florida in 2008 and 2012. In ’08 Obama received 57 percent of Hispanic support. In the 2012 election, he won 60 percent.
That is also the case in the other four polls included in the survey, with the biggest drop-off in Hispanic support coming in Nevada. Clinton is currently getting just 54 percent of the vote there against Trump (who gets 25 percent support), whereas Obama received a whopping 76 percent of their votes in ’08 and 71 percent in 2012.
And while polls continue to show a toss up between Cortez Masto and Rep. Joe Heck (R. NV), this is still Cortez Masto’s race to win:
Even Heck’s allies, however, acknowledge the most difficult test will come in the election’s final weeks, when he’ll face a barrage of attacks questioning his record on immigration, entitlement programs and — above all — his continued support of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Democrats surmise that the state’s left lean and Trump’s presence on the ticket will eventually prove too much to overcome for Heck, whose early edge they attribute mostly to name recognition.
“The level of anger toward Trump and his policy proposals and rhetoric is real,” Cancela said. “And I think the more Joe Heck is revealed to be aligned with Donald Trump, the better it is for Catherine.”
Heck’s lead is, in part at least, due to Trump. The GOP nominee was expected to struggle in Nevada, a state President Barack Obama won by nearly 5 points four years ago, because of its soaring Latino and Asian-American population.
Instead, Trump has kept his race close there because of his strong support among white working-class voters. The last three reputable surveys have shown Democrat Hillary Clinton with leads of 1 point, 2 points, and a Trump lead of 1 point.
Democrats are confident that Trump will fade, enough that the party’s home-stretch strategy will still heavily rely on linking Heck and Trump together in paid media.
That’s actually an uncommon approach: Many Senate Democratic candidates, in contrast with what they say in interviews, press releases, and speeches, don't use Trump in TV and radio ads.
But two weeks ago, Cortez Masto’s campaign began running a TV ad that contrasted Heck’s support of Trump with Nevada GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller, who have both said they would not back the GOP nominee. Aides to Cortez Masto’s campaign say that ad is still running in Nevada.
On Tuesday, the Service Employees International Union and iAmerica Action announced they would begin a new Spanish-language radio ad, backed by a $1 million buy, linking Trump and Heck on immigration.
And according to Univision’s September poll, Cortez Masto has more room to grow with Latino voters:
In the survey, immigration finished in a strong second place among the issues that would motivate Hispanics the most to vote in this presidential election, especially in the country’s Western states. That was the response of 18% in Arizona, 14% in Colorado, 19% in Nevada, and 12% in Florida. Only jobs and the economy had more weight as a motivating factor. Education and healthcare came in third and fourth place, respectively, even though Latino voters in Florida also expressed special concern about terrorism.
A few days ago, Trump made some statements in which he reiterated his original proposal to deport some 11 million undocumented persons, while also issuing comments suggesting he would allow some of them to stay in the country. Univision’s survey suggests that those apparently contradictory statements by the Republican contender may have confused and divided Hispanic. As a result, there are more Hispanics who believe that, if elected, Trump would allow some of the undocumented persons to remain in the country than there are those who believe he would deport all 11 million.
In an encouraging result for the Republican Party, the survey suggests that Trump’s lack of popularity among Hispanic voters does not necessarily affect the party’s other candidates in these crucial states. The GOP’s four senatorial candidates are faring better than its presidential candidate. In Florida, for example, Senator Marco Rubio is ahead of his Democratic opponent, Patrick Murphy, 46% to 39% among Latino voters, thanks in large part to conservative Cuban-American voters. In Arizona, the Democratic challenger, Ann Kirkpatrick, is ahead of the Republican incumbent John McCain 50%-35%. In Nevada, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto leads Republican Joe Heck 58%-24%. In Colorado, Democrat Michael Bennet is ahead of Republican Darryl Glenn 65%-19%. And the four Republican candidates for the Senate candidates have better favorability ratings than Trump has.
Lets help get the Latino vote in Nevada to win a Senate Majority. Click here to donate and get involved with Cortez Masto’s campaign.