As the 2024 presidential election draws near, Latino voters will play an oversize role in picking the next person to move into the White House. The group has become the largest minority and fastest-growing group of voters in the country.
That’s crystal clear in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties, which have seen their Latino population boom over the last several decades.
And with the Keystone State set to play a pivotal race in the election, those few thousand votes could decide the future of the United States.
Both campaigns have focused heavily on the area’s Latinos — Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband, and Tim Walz, her VP pick, have hosted “Latinos con Harris” events in the Lehigh Valley and Reading. Candidates for Senate and Congress locally have also held events targeting Latinos. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited both areas this past weekend during get-out-the-vote efforts targeting Latino voters.
In June, Donald Trump’s campaign teamed up with the Republican National Committee and Pennsylvania GOP to open a “Latino Americans for Trump” office in Reading. He also recently held a targeted town hall in Florida.
Some 247,000 people of Latino origin live in the Lehigh Valley and Berks County, according to the most recent census data. About 1 out of every 5 people who live here are of Spanish-speaking heritage.
Reading itself is home to about 95,000 people — 67% of whom are Latino, according to U.S. Census figures. In Allentown, 55% of the city’s 125,000 residents identify as Latino. In Bethlehem, around 30% of residents are Latino, and in Easton around a quarter share that heritage.
And while these cities lean mostly Democratic, they’re not as dark a shade of blue as they once were.
The majority of Latinos — around 6 in 10 — are Democrats or lean Democratic, according to Pew Research. But Republicans have made gains with Latino voters in recent years: In 2020, 32% of Latino voters nationwide cast a ballot for Trump, a 4% increase from his performance in 2016.
In Reading, Biden defeated Trump by a margin of about 46 percentage points in 2020. But Hillary Clinton did even better in 2016, when she bested Trump by 62 percentage points. Allentown saw a similar change; in 2016, the margin was 43.1% for Clinton, falling to 35.2% in 2020 for Biden.
Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, director of research at the UCLA Latino Politics and Policy Institute, said campaigns in the past did little outreach to Latino voters. They have traditionally been considered “low propensity” voters, he said — before 2016, Latinos were less likely to vote than other ethnic groups.
“Political campaigns have tended not to reach out to Latino voters because Latino voters don’t show up in their likely voter models, and the models that determine whether somebody is a likely voter or a high propensity voter, a lot of Latino voters show up as not likely to vote,” Dominguez-Villegas said.
But that certainly is changing, Dominguez-Villegas said, as Latinos are becoming more politically engaged. With their growing population, more are now eligible to vote. For example, 1 in 5 Latino voters in 2024 turned or will turn 18 before the election, so they will be voting for the first time.
As campaigns try to court Latino voters, it’s important to recognize just how diverse people from Latin American backgrounds are, Dominguez-Villegas said. There are around 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries, each with distinct cultures, customs and linguistic differences.
“Even though we share a common language, which is Spanish, there are subtleties and differences in culture, even differences in terminology: how you call a voting ballot is different for people who are of Mexican descent than of Puerto Rican descent,” Dominguez-Villegas said. “So campaigns in Pennsylvania will need to understand those subtleties in reaching out to voters.”
A diverse group
A mural of the late baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente adorns a wall outside the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley in South Bethlehem.
Beneath the painting of the baseball star, who died unexpectedly Dec. 31, 1972, on his way from Puerto Rico to a mission to aid hurricane victims in Nicaragua, the mural has small flags, representing more than 20 nations that comprise Latin America.
“There are 21 Spanish-speaking countries (in Latin America), so that is 21 ways of thinking,” center director Raymond Santiago said with a smile.
Geraldo Cadava, a Northwestern University professor who studies the Latino vote, said of the approximately 36 million eligible Latino voters, many do not consider themselves part of a Latino voting bloc.
“I can’t think of another 60 million group of residents for whom identity is important,” Cadava said. “In America, in the Latino community, we know that the demographics are shifting.”
That means that speaking about Latinos as a singular group, a voting bloc that can be won or lost as a whole, is a misguided oversimplification.
“The Latino community is not monolithic. We have Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, Mexicans, people from Central America and people from South America,” said Mike Toledo, president of the Latino support organization Centro Hispano in Reading. “The diversity is so vast.”
And it’s not just their ethnic background that’s diverse.
“They are not a monolith in their valued principles and political affiliations,” Toledo said. “Again, you have to understand cultural competency and do your homework.
“Many Latinos, depending on what country they came from, dealt with a great deal of political strife. So how they view politics from their home country will impact how they are going to view politics today.”
There was a time the region saw mostly Puerto Rican residents arriving here, coming for jobs at Bethlehem Steel and other factories. In recent years, people from the Caribbean, Central American and South American nations have moved here, making it a Spanish-speaking melting pot.
Santiago said while many Latinos become assimilated to living in the U.S. and take their citizenship seriously, that doesn’t erase where they came from.
People from Puerto Rico, for instance — a U.S. territory in which people elect a congressional representative and a governor, but do not vote for president — are different from someone who came from a country run by a dictator or other government, as in Venezuela or Cuba.
“Your experience, your trauma, whatever it may be, dictates how you are going to vote,” Santiago said.
Toledo added that religious beliefs, family dynamics and socioeconomic status also play a big role in how Latinos identify politically. And those identifications aren’t fixed in stone.
Toledo said both parties could do more when it comes to having the presence that he believes is necessary to sway voters. He noted that Reading sits at the heart of the Route 222 corridor that includes many cities with significant Latino populations.
“There are more Latinos along that corridor than there are in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,” he said. “So you talk about the opportunities that exist for the right campaign to be able to really impact those minds and sway those minds — but they have to show up. They have to get into the neighborhoods, they have to visit the bodegas, they have to show up at the churches.”
Toledo said the campaign that makes itself more visible in Latino communities will have the best chance of winning.
But some expressed frustration that the attention being paid to the Latino community during the election could evaporate after November.
Cynthia Mota, an Allentown councilwoman, said elected leaders should visit and check in with the Latino community all the time, not just during election years. They appreciate feeling listened to and truly heard when expressing concerns, she said.
“I mean, I’m a Democrat and I will be a Democrat until I die,” Mota said. “But the reality is, we only see a lot of big people, big elected officials during an election year and we want that to change.”
Mota said she wants to see leaders follow through on campaign promises, including expanding health care access and reforming immigration policies.
Mota said even though she is trying to mobilize her local community — she has hosted bilingual watch parties for both the presidential and vice presidential debates — she said she feels as though the community is still “waiting” for a candidate they feel truly represents them.
“I really believe that the Latino community is still waiting, and is indecisive,” she said. “I think that we need to knock on doors, (have) one-on-one conversations. I think that it’s really important that we can engage our Latino community to go out and vote.”
When it comes to the issues that matter most to Latino voters, Toledo said, they tend to mirror the things the most other Americans are concerned about.
He said the top issue he hears about the most from Latinos is the state of the economy, which is a topic that typically tops the list of concerns of all Americans. In particular, he said, people are frustrated and worried about the cost of things like eggs and milk at their local bodega or grocery store.
Santiago agreed.
“I think at the very core, people are looking for relief,” Santiago said. “We’ve seen an increase in people visiting our food pantry, working families who are struggling to make ends meet.”
He said the people in this area continue to deal with finding help for housing, utility payments and more.
The second biggest issue Toledo hears about from the local Latino community is affordable housing.
“We have a housing crisis,” he said. “The number of families who have come to us because their landlords have increased the rent by 25% and they are now at risk of being homeless is growing.”
And concerns about housing aren’t likely to change anytime soon, Toledo said, noting that the group will be the No. 1 ethnic group in terms of homebuyers over the next 20 years.
Access to quality health care and education fill out the list of top concerns for Latino voters, Toledo said, which again are concerns of many Americans.
“These are issues that the Latino population is sharing with us, but these are American issues across the board,” he said.
Tim Ramos, 39, a Republican who twice ran unsuccessfully for Allentown mayor, said both parties treat Latinos as one body, but particularly the Democrats.
“Democrats do treat us as if we’re monolithic,” he said. “The Latino community doesn’t function like other groups, where everybody thinks the same. It is very diverse.”
As if to make his point, Ramos, who was part of a Republican protest when then-vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris spoke in Lower Nazareth Township on election eve 2020, said he might not support Trump this year.
“I haven’t sat down yet to figure out who I will vote for,” he said. “I will say I am 100% positive I won’t vote for Kamala Harris. I might abstain.
“Realistically, I probably will vote for Trump, but it’s all about the policies.”
Sam Negron, a state constable who lives in Allentown, said Democrats tend to throw Latinos in the same group.
“We have a shared language, but we are from different cultures,” said Negron, 55, a “white” of Puerto Rican descent who came to Allentown in 1998 from New York.
Negron, who has switched party allegiances — he most recently changed his registration from Democrat to Republican — said Democratic leaders who try to group people are fostering a division among the groups.
“I try to explain to newcomers (immigrants), they come with the mentality that all white people are the same,” he said. “But if you look at the roots, they have different cultures.”
He said he has tried studying the history of both political parties, and he uses his knowledge to guide people about voting.
“I hit them with the values for both sides and ask: ‘What do you stand for?’ And leave it for them to decide,” he said.
“But when Democrats talk about helping black and brown (people), it just bothers me.”
Why Harris is earning these Latinos’ votes
Alex Gooden said his Latino heritage isn’t necessarily something he considers when deciding who to vote for.
An accountant who works in Reading, the 27-year-old Gooden is biracial. His father is black, and his mother was born to parents who moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico when they were both teenagers.
In the voting booth, he said, none of that matters. Instead, he’s focused on things like the state of the economy and being able to afford a house as home prices have skyrocketed following the pandemic.
“The prices are absurd,” he said. “I don’t understand how someone can afford a house that is just starting out in their career. Also, being an accountant, I’m really plugged into the state of the economy as a whole.”
While Gooden tries to keep race and politics separate, he admitted that sometimes that’s difficult. He said Trump’s first campaign and his term in office created an uncomfortable environment for people of color, saying his vocal opposition to immigration led his supporters to vilify those who didn’t look or sound like them.
“I was a student at Bloomsburg University when Trump was in office and I remember the general feeling on campus being very hostile and very divided,” he said. “There was always just a constant rift.”
Gooden, a registered Democrat who considers himself socially progressive and fiscally conservative, said he’s excited about casting a ballot for Harris. While he voted for Biden in 2020, he acknowledged he was more motivated by the desire to keep Trump from a second term than his support of the Democratic candidate.
“I think having a woman of color as president would be good for the country,” he said. “I also agree with some of the policies she has come out with like her plan to help first-time home buyers. She is a good candidate.”
Eva Novas, who was born in Puerto Rico and came to live in the U.S. when she was a young girl, said that when it comes to which candidate is going to get her vote it matters what policies they are bringing to the table rather than their party affiliation.
The 40-year-old mother of four said the biggest issue on her mind this election cycle is the economy.
“Everything is getting more expensive and wages stay the same,” the Reading resident said. “A lot of people are struggling right now.”
But being a social services caseworker is also playing a part in her choice. Novas said she is concerned with issues like strengthening safety nets for seniors and tackling language barriers for those seeking social services.
Novas said she’s still not sure who she’s going to vote for. She likes Harris because of her stance on protecting reproductive rights for women, but she also likes Trump for reasons she can’t quite pinpoint.
“Both candidates say very different things, but then they contradict what they say — so I’m undecided, for sure,” she said. “I will probably listen to what other people are saying but, in the end, I will have to make up my own mind based on where they stand on the issues that are personal to me.”
Lucy Martinez said she decided that this election was too important to stand on the sidelines so she has been knocking on doors in her community encouraging her neighbors — many of whom are Latino — to cast a ballot.
“I tell people all the time that they must vote,” the 72-year-old said. “When you vote you have the right to say something, but if you stay home they are going to do whatever they want. There are so many people who just don’t vote and that’s sad.”
A resident of Reading’s Glenside neighborhood who was born in Puerto Rico, Martinez said who people decide to vote for is their own business. But she noted she has seen more enthusiasm this year than in previous years because of Harris. She said many women have told her that the prospect of having a woman of color in the White House is a motivating factor.
Martinez said she’s one of those women.
“I see a lot of myself in her,” she said. “Her whole career has been about trying to help people, and she is the candidate who has the values and character that I think align most with Latino voters. I think she would bring a lot of good changes.”
Judith Gonzalez said her decision to vote for Harris is based on her belief that she is more likely to champion policies that will benefit her family based on what she has heard the vice president say on the campaign trail.
She said Trump, on the other hand, has a long track record of being disrespectful to women and Latinos.
“My vote is for Kamala — no doubt about it,” she said.
The Reading resident said the affordability of higher education is a top issue. The 54-year-old is taking classes at Reading Area Community College in hopes of being able to pass the General Educational Development (GED) test.
The mother of three, who was born in Puerto Rico, has plans to continue her studies in the future so she will have more career opportunities. But the cost to complete a degree is something that has kept her from accomplishing this goal in the past.
Why these Latino voters will support Trump
On the other hand, Republican Latinos also say they are concerned about immigration and want to see reforms — but they draw a contrast between their own immigrant backgrounds and the more recent influx of migrants at the U.S. southern border.
The number of migrants attempting to cross the border reached a record high in late 2023, although since then border crossings have declined and are at the lowest point since 2020, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security.
At a rally for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick in Allentown, Latino supporters said their families came to the U.S. legally and blamed the Biden-Harris administration for the increasing migration, which they said has brought problems.
“My parents are both immigrants to this country. They came here, they still spoke English with an accent. They were so grateful to be here,” said Chris Lindau, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
“There’s so many of us and our ancestors who come here legally,” Lindau said. “We’re a nation of the law, right? That’s what makes our country different from so many other countries in the world, right? And it’s very important that we have the rule of law respected and we have people here that we invite in, that is the essence of any country to have a border.”
Lindau criticized the Biden administration and alleged that they have “rolled out the red carpet for illegal aliens.”
Trump and several other Republican candidates have appealed to Latino voters on the immigration issue from a similar angle. At rallies and on the campaign trail, Trump has repeatedly said that migrants are taking “Black and Hispanic jobs” and has said that illegal immigrants are “destroying our Hispanic population.”
Aron Centeno, 21, a senior international studies major at Muhlenberg College in Allentown from Williston, Florida, said his brother would likely vote for Trump, but he favors Harris because her policies tend to align more with his leanings.
Culturally, he said, he grew up with parents who came to America from Mexico.
“I grew up predominantly in a Spanish-speaking household,” he said.
Centeno said his neighborhood features “a bunch of Mexican-Americans.” Because of his parents’ encouragement, he has become an enthusiastic voter and is registered to vote in Pennsylvania. He said this will mark his first time voting for president.
Erika Sutherland, an associate professor of Spanish at Muhlenberg College, said both parties are making efforts at reaching Latino voters, despite Trump and vice presidential candidate JD Vance raising derision from some past remarks, such as immigrants consuming people’s pets. She agreed that both political parties continue to treat Latinos as one homogenous group.
“I think it’s a terrible era,” said Sutherland. “Even just the right-left divide: If you come from a conservative right-wing, upper-middle- class background in Latin America, your political leanings aren’t going to shift when you come to the United States.
“It gets lost in the mix, but it’s a real thing.”
Originally Published:
