Vanessa Cruz Nichols, an assistant professor of political science at Indiana University, said Harris has significant potential to appeal to Latino voters but will need to win over independents and those who do not plan to vote in November’s election.

“She has some work to do, reintroducing herself and letting people know where she stands on a number of issues,” Cruz said. “She has to work aggressively to appeal to voters, especially young Latino voters who are even more nonpartisan and more willing to either sit out an election or vote for a third-party candidate.”

As the country’s largest minority group – 19.5% of the total population, according to the 2020 census – Latinos form a key voting bloc in what is shaping up to be a close presidential election. Harris, the daughter of immigrants, has won the support of influential Latino groups, and some say her success depends on mobilizing young Latino voters.

Maria Teresa, president of Voto Latino, said Harris’ entry into the race has led to “community cohesion.” In focus groups the organization convened after President Joe Biden announced his exit from the race, more than half of young Latinos who initially said they would vote for a third party said they would now switch to the Democratic Party, Teresa said.

“There is no path to the White House without the votes of young Latinos,” she said. “Our path to moving the country in a different direction is through young people.”

In 2020, more than 6 in 10 Latinos supported Biden, and 35% supported former President Donald Trump, according to AP VoteCast. But a July poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only about 4 in 10 Latinos said they were somewhat or very optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party, and about a quarter said the same about the Republican Party.

According to the same poll, Hispanic adults’ opinions of Harris are divided: 44 percent are positive, 43 percent are negative. However, about half of Hispanic adults said they would be happy with Harris as the Democratic candidate, up from just 15 percent in early July.

After watching the presidential debate between Trump and Biden, 35-year-old Peruvian-Mexican small business owner Guillermo Francisco Cornejo said he would not vote in the presidential election. That changed when Biden withdrew and endorsed Harris. But Cornejo’s decision was largely driven by fear of Trump’s reaction if he won, he said.

“Now it’s: Yes, I will definitely vote for the Democrats,” Cornejo said, adding that he believes Harris is “very well qualified” for the office of commander in chief. “If Trump is elected, he will turn this country into Latin America in the way he does politics and everything else.”

In August, the League of United Latin American Citizens, through its political arm, the LULAC Adelante PAC, endorsed Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. It was the first time the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights group had endorsed a presidential candidate since its founding in 1929.

“We can trust them to do what is right for our community and the country,” said Domingo Garcia, chair of LULAC Adelante PAC and LULAC’s former president, in a statement. “The politics of spreading hate and scapegoating Latinos and immigrants must end!”

Harris was criticized for her 2021 comments urging migrants not to come to the United States, even though she was tasked with overseeing diplomatic efforts to address migration problems in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and urging affected countries to tighten control over their own borders.

But the fact that Harris is the daughter of immigrants makes many Latino families feel represented, and that could help her get their votes, civic engagement advocates say.

Pascale Small, 35, a Costa Rican woman and single mother of three Afro-Latino girls, said Harris appealed to her because of her family background and her “commitment to helping us heal and grow as a country.”

“She has a spirit of service that I really admire and appreciate. She is incredibly driven by justice and that is very important to me as I raise my children,” said Small, who wants the vice president to address issues such as climate change, education, the economy and immigration reform.

Maca Casado, media director for Hispanics on the Harris campaign team, said Harris has a history of supporting Latinos and their important issues, such as health care and gun violence.

“Vice President Harris’ campaign recognizes the political power of Latinos and is the only campaign aggressively advocating for their cause because we do not take their votes for granted,” Casado said.

But Bob Unanue, chairman of the America First Policy Institute’s Hispanic Leadership Coalition, said Trump – not Harris – continues to show commitment to issues that resonate with the Hispanic community, such as job growth, educational freedom, parental rights and securing the border.

“Unlike Kamala Harris, who has failed to address the crisis at our southern border … and continues to promote failed economic policies, Trump offers a vision of prosperity and security that many Hispanic voters rally behind,” Unanue said.

Experts say Harris’ choice of Walz will help the campaign appeal to voters in the key swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Teresa, the president of Voto Latino, said in a statement that Walz has been strong in defending democracy, voting rights and standing up for working families in Minnesota – values ​​that align with those of the Latino community. Harris also has the opportunity to make her case in states like Pennsylvania, where many Puerto Ricans live and who, as U.S. citizens, are allowed to vote once they move to a state, Teresa said.

Charlotte Castillo, executive director of Poderistas, a nonprofit that advocates for greater Latino participation in public life, said the announcement that Harris would be the Democratic nominee energized many people in the Latino community, and as in previous elections, it will be crucial.

“I think Latinas in particular are, as we usually say, the CEOs of their families. They make the decisions for their families and have a huge influence on them,” Castillo said. “So I believe Latinas have the potential to have a really outsized influence.”

Castillo said the party that consistently appeals to Latino voters will get their vote.

“Once the community is engaged, it stays engaged,” Castillo said. “Both parties need to start knocking on doors and do it more consistently.”