Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden could receive a significant boost among Latino voters due to his selection of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate: “Our recent poll on behalf of Voter Participation Center and Voto Latino found that 59% of Latino voters in key battleground states said they would be excited about Harris as VP, and 52% say the selection of Harris will make them more likely to vote for Biden,” Anaís López of Latino Decisions writes.
Harris already has a proven record among Latino voters from her previous runs for office as California attorney general and U.S. senator, López writes. “As attorney general of California, Harris won a majority of support from Latino voters twice in 2010 and 2014. She beat Loretta Sanchez for California’s first open Senate seat in nearly a quarter century in 2016. As her support among Latinos grew throughout the campaign, polls showed her breaking even or surpassing the popular Loretta Sanchez by election day.”
That support continued as Harris announced her 2020 candidacy last year, López said, where she “was a favorite among Latino voters in the primary; leading the pack with Julián Castro, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Harris’ favorability among Latinos was 53% after July and she has remained one of the top favorites for Latinos throughout. Kamala Harris was the first to provide simultaneous Spanish language translation at a campaign event in Nevada. She was led by Latino campaign manager Juan Rodriguez and noted Latina senior advisor Emmy Ruiz.”
As we noted earlier this week, Harris has also had a strong immigration record in the Senate, where she’s been a bold leader in particular in the fight to protect young immigrants enrolled or eligible to enroll in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Following the Trump administration announcing the program’s rescission back in September 2017, Harris was the first Democratic senator to step forward and announce that she would vote against any spending package unless it included permanent protections for immigrant youth now threatened with deportation.
“[I] have over many years met with our Dreamers and most recently in the last 10 months met with these young people who are terrified,” she said at the time.
Harris has also championed the many immigrant women and women of color who work as domestic workers, last year joining Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal and the National Domestic Workers Alliance to unveil the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, legislation that would grant important protections on a federal level to housekeepers, nannies, and more than 2 million home care workers in the U.S. The legislation has since been endorsed by Biden and could be among the pieces of landmark legislation Democrats pass should they regain control of Congress and the White House.
“Not surprisingly, Harris’ work won her the endorsement of Latina civil rights legend Dolores Huerta when she was running to represent the Democratic Party for president,” López noted. “With almost two-thirds of Latinos identifying as Democrats, Biden is positioned to receive a significant boost among Latinos by selecting Harris, which could mobilize this important base in the election against Donald Trump.”