The insult that an opening act for Donald Trump directed at Puerto Rico (“floating island of garbage”) a week ago, at a rally of the Republican candidate in New York, has given the vice president and Democratic candidate the last-minute support of many inhabitants of Allentown, an industrious city in decisive Pennsylvania with an important Puerto Rican community. Of the four and a half events scheduled in the State about which her rival already raised suspicions of electoral fraud this Sunday, Harris’ presence this Monday in Scranton—Joe Biden’s hometown—and Allentown, the first two stops of her tour, intends to scratch the last votes. The first is a factory zone; the second, a majority Hispanic city, with 55% of the population divided between Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.
The pivotal state of Pennsylvania, which with 19 Electoral College votes is the most decisive of the seven called to decide the race, was the scene this Monday of a marathon day: four rallies, plus a surprise stop in Reading—also industrial and Hispanic majority—to try to harvest the only votes available at this point, when more than 70 million Americans have already voted, according to the Electoral Laboratory at the University of Florida. These voters seem to favor her despite the very slight advantage of her rival, Republican Donald Trump, in the latest state survey. Most polls point to a technical tie that will probably require photo finish: 48% voting intention for each in Pennsylvania. The vice president, who was ahead of her rival by four percentage points at the start of her campaign, has been losing ground, something she hopes to reverse, even if only in the last 24 hours.
There are signs, however, that last-minute voters are opting for Harris: the Democrat wins by 55% compared to Trump’s 44%. Twenty-four hours before the key day, 11% of voters still do not know which ballot to choose, compared to 16% a month ago. A crucial fishing ground for her, but also for her Republican rival, who predicts an agonizing and slow scrutiny, fueling the Republican’s suspicions about irregularities—if not fraud—in the count.
In Scranton, Harris met at a ski resort with several hundred volunteers from his campaign, in a colloquial talk in which he referred to his rival without naming him, calling him “that other guy.” In Allentown, he spoke for 20 minutes to some 4,200 local residents, who packed the gymnasium and an adjacent room of a beautiful school from the early 20th century and entertained the wait with singer Frankie Negrón and his band. It was presented by the governor, Josh Shapiro, and the rapper of Puerto Rican origin Fat Joe, who implored undecided Latinos to vote for Harris. “Where is your pride?” the singer said in Spanish, “where is your pride?”
A woman interrupted Harris’ speech, and she was expelled from the room, without her screams being heard. Similar episodes have been a constant in her campaign, usually as a result of questions about the Gaza war, which make the Democratic candidate very uncomfortable. “I don’t think people who disagree with me are the enemy… we’re fighting for a democracy right now,” Harris said, turning to the protester. “We love our democracy, and democracy can be a little complicated sometimes.”
The final acts Harris addresses the undecided among the working class (Scranton), Hispanics (the one in Allentown, plus the surprise stop in Reading), and the independent, moderate or doubtful urbanites of Pittsburgh (third rally) and Philadelphia, with special attention in the latter to African Americans: the posters that decorate marquees and streetlights in the city show a collage with the images of Martin Luther King, Barack Obama and Kamala Harris and the slogan “Defend democracy.” A nod to the very important black community, from three of its most prominent figures.
In Philadelphia, with performances by Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, among other artists, Harris and his number twoTim Walz, will end the campaign at the stroke of midnight. In 2016, Hillary Clinton attracted tens of thousands of people to her closing ceremony in that city, with a concert attended by former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, but no one dares to draw comparisons between the two celebration ends, also out of superstition: the Clinton’s victory seemed certain, but Trump gave the surprise.
Of the 36 million Latino voters spread across the country, historically Democrats but partly won over to their cause by the Republicans by appealing to their pockets and the immigration crisis, among other issues, Harris has found in the racist insult to Puerto Rico an unexpected hitch flag. Latinos represent more than 5% of the electorate in Pennsylvania, where polls continue to show a tie between the candidates. Of the series of industrial cities with a growing Latino majority, Allentown is key: it had a Hispanic population percentage of 12% in 1990; Today, the largest city in the also decisive Lehigh Valley has almost 55%, mostly Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. That is also why last week, three days after the controversial rally, Trump met with Hispanic voters in the city: “No one loves Latinos and Puerto Ricans more than I do,” he told them, although without apologizing for the insult.
The number of Latino voters in Pennsylvania has nearly tripled in the last two decades. This growth reflects the national panorama: it is estimated that more than 30% of Latinos who vote this year will do so for the first time. A Siena College survey for The New York Times revealed in mid-October a national support of 56% of Hispanic voters for Harris, below the 62% that Biden achieved in 2020 and even less than that achieved at the time by Barack Obama. Trump had 37%, stable for four years. The greatest defection of Latino voters occurred during Biden’s candidacy for re-election; The vice president has recovered ground, but not all.
“They had never paid so much attention to us,” says Lucila, a restaurant waitress, referring to both parties. Dozens of blue signs, with the name of the Harris-Walz tandem, cover the streets of Allentown. “Before Trump’s racist rally, many of my acquaintances were not interested in the elections, they did not care more or less, they were undecided. After that infamy, it didn’t take them a day to vote, obviously for the Democrats. Although not all, of course, older people are more fearful and my mother, for example, has voted for Trump, because she says that with him we lived better, without inflation”, one of the ideas that the Republican repeats most at his rallies.
A decline in Latino support for Harris would not be catastrophic in itself if it maintains that of other demographic groups, such as young people or African Americans. But if he loses, for example, the latter, his chances of victory would be in danger. The participation of the African-American electorate in a handful of cities such as Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Charlotte (North Carolina) could tilt the outcome of the elections, so the vice president is concentrating her last efforts on them. Philadelphia will be your last cartridge.
