Latinos helped Biden in 2020. He'll need to earn their votes this year, expert says
When President Biden pulled out of a speech to a Latino advocacy group in Las Vegas Wednesday night after testing positive for COVID-19, he missed a chance to shore up support among a key group of voters.
The Latino vote is growing, especially in swing states. In Arizona, they made up roughly a quarter of voters who cast a ballot in 2020, according to NALEO Educational Fund, a nonprofit that works to increase Latino political participation.
Biden missing the speech was “a huge bummer,” Latino outreach strategist Stephanie Valencia told Morning Edition. The former Obama administration official is the co-founder of EquisLabs, a research and polling group that aims to create a better understanding of Latino voters. She was at the conference and hoped to hear the President speak.
“It was a huge opportunity for him to make his case to Latinos about why in this, the most consequential election of our lifetime… why their vote matters,” Valencia said. She added that it was a chance to “present his agenda to them as to why he is the person and the candidate that can fight and deliver for them.”
So what should Biden’s pitch be to Latinos?
Biden’s record is all Latino voters need to look at, Valencia said, “from the economy to other issues that they view with an economic lens like health care, the cost of education, student loans, gun safety [and] abortion.”
“He has a case to make to Latinos,” she added.
Biden’s recent move to protect some undocumented immigrants from deportation, if they’re married to a U.S. citizen, is also something he can promote to the Latino electorate, according to Valencia.
The president is still going to have to earn their votes
Latino support for Biden isn’t a given, Valencia noted.
A recent poll of likely Latino voters in swing states found they supported Biden 59% to Trump’s 39%, but support for the president fell when independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was listed as an option.
“He needs to court and not just count on the Latino vote,” she said. “We know that the Latino vote is not a given, but could be the difference in this election.”
For Biden, it’s not as simple as touting pro-immigration policies, according to Valencia.
“Latinos do not just care about immigration, but it is a really important issue,” Valencia said, because it tells them how a candidate views the Latino community.
Trump’s mass deportation plan could be off-putting for Latinos
For the president, and his predecessor and opponent Donald Trump, what’s important is showing the Latino community they belong in America, Valencia stated.
“Do they view whether or not Latinos have something to contribute to this country?” she said.
That’s where one scene from this week’s RNC could hurt the Trump campaign, Valencia pointed to. Signs were given out to delegates that read “MASS DEPORTATION NOW,” as reported by CBS News.
This year’s Republican Party platform contains a pledge, in all-caps, to “CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY.”
The signs on the convention floor were “chilling”, said Valencia, “and I think probably sent a message to many Latino voters in this country that that is the view of Republicans and who they see Latinos as and who they see immigrants as.”
If Republicans continue that rhetoric, they will have “overplayed their hand”, she said.
The results in key battleground states in November will show if Valencia’s analysis is correct.
This digital story was edited by Obed Manuel.
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Biden was supposed to be shoring up his support with Latino voters at a conference in Las Vegas yesterday - that is, until this happened.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JANET MURGUIA: I was just on the phone with President Biden, and he just tested positive for COVID.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Gasping).
MARTÍNEZ: That's Janet Murguia, the president and CEO of a Latino civil rights and advocacy group called UnidosUS. Instead of speaking at the event, Biden went home to Delaware to isolate. The growing Latino electorate could once again be key this election year in swing states such as Nevada. So for more on how the candidates are courting them, we called Stephanie Valencia. She's the co-founder of EquisLabs, a research group that aims to grow Latinx civic participation and power.
Stephanie, you were at that conference in Las Vegas. What were you hoping to hear from President Biden?
STEPHANIE VALENCIA: Well, it was certainly a huge bummer that he wasn't able to participate yesterday, but it was a huge opportunity for him to make his case to Latinos about why in this - the most consequential election of our lifetime - why I make that case to Latinos - why they - their vote matters and present his agenda to them as to why he is the person and the candidate that can fight and deliver for them.
MARTÍNEZ: What about making his case to Latinos that he still has the ability to campaign and govern?
VALENCIA: Yeah, you know, it's no question that President Biden's agenda has really answered a lot of questions for Latinos across this country - working-class Latinos across this country, from the economy to other issues that they view with an economic lens, like health care, the cost of education, student loans, gun safety, abortion. He has a case to make to Latinos. And, you know, given that Latinos - this will be an election that Latinos will play one of the most consequential roles, he needs to court and not just count on the Latino vote. And so there is plenty to talk about from his recent immigration action on relief for American citizen spouses. We know that the Latino vote is not a given but could be the difference in this election.
MARTÍNEZ: Yes. I wanted to ask you about that because - yeah, that was in June. President Biden announced executive action, allowing certain undocumented spouses and kids of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent residency without leaving the country. And Stephanie, almost every single story I read on it had a line that said something like this - the move aims to appeal to Latinos. So, is that what the country thinks - that whenever there's an immigration story, that, of course, should appeal to Latinos because that's all Latinos care about?
VALENCIA: Well, I'll say, first and foremost, that Latinos do not just care about immigration, but it is a really important issue by which they view whether candidates - how they view the Latino community. Do they view the Latino community belongs here? Do they view whether or not Latinos have something to contribute to this country?
On the one hand, you have what happened last night, which is the Republican National Convention holding a sign that says, mass deportations now. On the other hand, you have President Biden who is presenting a set of immigration relief actions that were taking commonsense solutions to solving a major challenge that exists in this country, which is people who's - married to U.S. citizens who are not allowed to stay here right now and a real commonsense approach to keeping families together.
At the end of the day, Latinos care about a whole host of issues, from the economy to health care to the affordability of education to gun safety to abortion. And so while immigration is a critically important issue, it's really important that candidates not just come and speak to Latinos on immigration.
I will say that last night, seeing those mass-deportation-now signs was very chilling and, I think, probably sent a message to many Latino voters in this country that that is the view of Republicans and who they see Latinos as and who they see immigrants as. And I'd really be worried that Republicans might overplay their hand on this issue if that's the tack they continue to take.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Stephanie Valencia, co-founder of EquisLabs. Thank you very much, Stephanie.
VALENCIA: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHIGEO SEKITO'S "THE WORD 2") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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