Harris regains ground with Latino voters, new poll shows

Vice President Kamala Harris is regaining ground with Latino voters after seeing a dip in support earlier this election cycle, holding her lead among Latino voters over former President Donald Trump, according to a new survey of Hispanic voters.

Harris leads Trump 57% to 33%, according to a national survey of 1,500 Latino voters conducted by Florida International University. The survey was conducted between Oct. 10-22. In swing states, Harris is leading Trump 55% to 28%, Florida International University’s survey of Latino voters in the seven battleground states found.

From July to October, Harris saw a 15 percentage point increase of support among Latino voters, the survey found.

Harris and Trump are statistically tied in the race to the White House, and in a dead heat in the key swing states. Despite Harris holding a lead among Latino voters, she saw a dip of support among young Latino men in the key swing states of Nevada and Arizona.

A New York Times/Siena College poll published in October found Harris at 56% nationally with Latino voters, while Trump was at 37%.

Both candidates in the last few weeks have ramped up last minute outreach to Latino voters – with Harris in mid-October announcing an “Hombres con Harris” outreach effort and releasing an economic agenda for Latino men. Trump touted key endorsement from Reggaeton stars Anuel AA and Nicky Jam. The latter has since rescinded his endorsement.

The survey also found that a growing number of Latino voters said they plan on voting this year. More than 80% of Latino voters said they were “very likely” to vote this year, the survey found. In 2020, nearly 66% of the voting-eligible population of Latino voters cast their ballot, according to the League of United Latin American Citizens.

“Each of the battleground states has a significant Latino electorate, and in close races, every vote counts—if you win by just one vote, you take the entire electorate,” said Eduardo Gamarra, director of the Latino Public Opinion Forum at FIU’s Gordon Institute. “It’s a game of margins. Higher turnout by Latino voters could, in fact, determine the next President of the United States.”

The fight for the Latino vote came to a head this past week after a comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday made racist and offensive jokes about Puerto Rico, Latinos and Black Americans.

Tony Hinchliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony, called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Although Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, tried to distance himself from the racist joke, he was met with backlash from Puerto Rican and other Latino voters – even in key swing states like Pennsylvania. Nicky Jam said he was no longer supporting Trump following the offensive joke.

Harris and Democrats have tried to capitalize on the remarks to appeal to more Latino voters and make up ground with the key voting group. Harris’ campaign released a Spanish-language ad highlighting the joke and appealing to Latino voters.

Harris on Thursday held rallies in Phoenix, Arizona and Reno, Nevada, and Las Vegas. At her Phoenix rally, Mexican norte?o band Los Tigres del Norte performed. In Las Vegas, Mexican rock band Maná performed at Harris' Las Vegas rally, playing songs like “Oye Mi Amor” and “Mariposa Traicionera,” and urged voters in Spanish and English to vote. Chants of “si se puede" broke out during Harris’ speech in both Arizona and Nevada.

Jennifer Lopez, Grammy-nominated singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent, disavowed Hinchcliffe’s joke and called on Latinos to support Harris.

“It wasn't just Puerto Ricans that were offended that day,” Lopez said of Hinchcliffe’s remarks. “It was every Latino in this country. It was humanity and anyone of decent character.”

Lopez made a plea especially to voters who are thinking about sitting the election out. She said that people in power “love it when you do nothing.” She said that not voting is an agreement.

“It just makes it easier, easier for them to do whatever they want, whatever serves them,” she said. “And this election is about your life…Don't make it easy. Make them pay attention to you. That's your power.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris regains ground with Latino voters, new poll shows