Harris Presses for Black, Latino Votes in Philadelphia

Kamala Harris spent Sunday with a singular focus: Philadelphia.

The decision to devote the entire day to Pennsylvania’s largest city, nine days before Election Day, underscored the heavily Democratic city’s importance to the vice president — and also a central challenge facing her campaign: If she doesn’t drive turnout among Black and Latino voters there, she’ll lose the state and her best path to the White House.

Philadelphia is nearly 40 percent Black and 15 percent Hispanic. President Joe Biden won 81 percent of the vote there in 2020, and at over 10 percent of the statewide vote, it’s a critical piece of the Blue Wall Harris is scrambling to maintain to beat Donald Trump.

But recent polling warns of a fraying Democratic coalition, including Trump cutting into Harris’ margins among Black and Latino men — a trend that is alarming Democrats in Pennsylvania and across the country who fear it could cost them the White House.

Well aware of those challenges she’s facing, Harris launched a full-court press for Black and Latino votes across Philadelphia on Sunday, returning to some of the key retail politicking that she’s recently eschewed in favor of mega-rallies amid rising security concerns for both campaigns. From the pulpit of a predominately Black church to a barbershop chair to a Puerto Rican restaurant, Harris warned Black and Latino voters that Trump is “full of grievance” and argued a second Trump presidency would harm them and their families.

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Philadelphia may be even more central to Harris’ victory than it has been for Democrats in the past, former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who represented the Lehigh Valley north of the city, said in an interview.

While Harris has a strong chance to do better in Philadelphia’s affluent, suburban collar counties than Biden did in 2020, some Democrats worry that she may also be poised fall short of Biden’s benchmarks in much of the rest of the state — especially in overwhelmingly white, working-class areas.

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That’s why any slippage among key, Democratic-leaning groups in Philadelphia could be so damaging.

“Kamala Harris has been having an authentic conversation with Black and brown men throughout the course of this campaign,” said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, a 35-year-old Democrat who is the first Black lieutenant governor in the state’s history.

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But for all of Democrats’ dominance in the Philadelphia market in recent elections, Harris is facing headwinds after high grocery prices and inflation have hit voters harder there than in most other areas of the country. That’s adding to her challenge in winning over more young Black and Latino men especially, who polls suggest are concerned about the economy and may be willing to break for Trump.

At a West Philadelphia barber shop, Harris sought to speak to those concerns directly during a conversation with young Black men moderated by state Rep. Jordan Harris. One attendee raised the burden of student loan debt and other challenges for young people trying to get ahead, as Harris nodded along. Another voter said he was an educator, and Harris replied by stressing the importance of Black teachers in the classroom.

“You know that the statistics are: If a Black child has a Black teacher, by the end of third grade they’re like 13 percent more likely, more likely to go to college,” Harris said. “If they have had two Black teachers by third grade, something like 30 percent more likely.”

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Then, during a stop at Freddy & Tony’s, a Puerto Rican restaurant in North Philadelphia, Harris also touted her recently announced plans for what she described as “a task force for Puerto Rico,” if elected. She also ticked through her plans to help families “build intergenerational wealth” by boosting through her plans to boost federal aid for home ownership and small businesses.

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