Can Kamala Harris win over disenchanted Latino voters?

From left, Representatives Steven Horsford and Dina Titus, Senator Jacky Rosen, Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Representative Susie Lee at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday. The abrupt substitution of Kamala Harris for Joe Biden as the Democratic party’s presidential nominee has energized two of the party’s bedrock bases of support – pro-choice women and African Americans – along with millions of young voters who felt dismay at the Hobson’s choice posed by two old white guys in the presidential contest.

But the country’s estimated 36 million eligible Latino voters could be another story.

Their importance in presidential races has been steadily growing over the past 50 years, and Latinos are projected to represent nearly 15% of eligible voters nationwide by November.

Historically, Latinos have ranked among the Democratic party’s most reliable sources of votes, in about the same league as Black and Jewish voters. But the party’s once commanding advantage has been shrinking. Hillary Clinton trounced Donald Trump among Latinos nationwide in 2016 by a factor of 81% to 16%, yet four years later the former president upped his share to one out of every four votes cast by Latinos.

A slew of prominent Latino […]

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