The Thursday before Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign dropped an ad appealing directly to Puerto Rican voters. Unlike a previous video released a day after Trump-supporting comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” this new video was a master class in how to pull at the heartstrings of Boricua identity and pride.

If there is one presidential campaign truth coming out of Sunday’s garbage joke, it’s that Puerto Ricans are fired up to vote in 2024.

The video, called “Somos más” (we are more), featured a Spanish-speaking narrator, with his very noticeable Puerto Rican accent, listing the many reasons why Puerto Rico and its people should never be disrespected. It was a rare moment when Democrats got their message right for Puerto Rican voters and their Latino allies. 

Of course, the ad was not for Puerto Ricans living on the island. Being a colony means that Puerto Rico’s 3 million residents can’t vote for president even though they are American citizens. It’s complicated as to why, and with just days until Election Day, the Harris campaign was not about to have the uncomfortable yet necessary conversations about why Puerto Ricans continue to be ignored by both Republicans and Democrats. Colonialism has that effect.

No, this ad was all about the nearly 1 million Puerto Ricans who can vote in swing states, where they live. And if there is one presidential campaign truth coming out of Sunday’s garbage joke, it’s that Puerto Ricans are fired up to vote in 2024, and the Harris campaign is wise to make sure they do.

They could in fact be the next swing state power brokers, particularly in states like Pennsylvania, where more than 300,000 voters of Puerto Rican descent are eligible to vote. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state by around 81,000 votes. If the last week has significantly raised the Boricua desire to not vote for Trump and to vote for Harris, then the state will stay in the Democratic column.

According to The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, Florida residents of Puerto Rican descent represent 5.7% of the state. Ohio, North Carolina, and Wisconsin are at 1%. In Arizona, Puerto Ricans account for 0.9% of the state, with Nevada coming in at 0.8%. In these races where just thousands of votes will determine Electoral College winners, playing up the events of last week and raising awareness among Puerto Ricans have a real chance of making a difference for Harris.

Understandably, the Trump campaign is doing everything it can to diffuse that possibility. Biden’s response to the “garbage joke” could have given Trump a lifeline; at a Tuesday rally in Allentown, where the population is about 25% Puerto Rican, Trump insisted he “will deliver the best future for Puerto Ricans and for Hispanic Americans.” At the same event, Zoraida Buxó, a Republican Puerto Rican pro-statehood supporter and a “shadow senator” of the island’s current pro-statehood government, publicly supported Trump, saying, “We need this man back in the White House. We need this man to be our commander-in-chief. He will make us feel safe. And he will protect us.” 

But Buxó’s Trump endorsement lacks the star power and influence of a number of prominent Puerto Rican celebrities who have publicly voiced their support for Harris, from Jennifer Lopez to Bad Bunny to Ricky Martin to Puerto Rican-Dominican reggaeton star Nicky Jam, who in September was all for Trump, but on Wednesday, took it all back.

“Never in my life did I think that just one month later a comedian would show up and criticize my country, and speak poorly of my country. And for that, I revoke any support for Donald Trump and I’m stepping aside from any kind of political situation. Puerto Rico is to be respected,” Jam posted on social media.

This sentiment is strongly echoed on the island itself, where people in Puerto Rico are fed up with their colonial status, as political anthropologist Yarimar Bonilla explains in her excellent New York Times opinion piece, in which she highlights how Puerto Rico’s younger generation “is determined to reclaim the island’s future.” Puerto Rico’s general election this year falls on the same day as the United States’s presidential election. History would be made if the island were to elect its first pro-independence governor, Juan Dalmau.

If Puerto Ricans in the diaspora mobilize and vote in record numbers, they will be issuing a declaration that they cannot be marginalized. Their message: Respect for Puerto Rico and its people is no longer optional.

As both Election Days approach, Puerto Rican voters in swing states can remain reactive to the predictable cycle of political neglect — or use this moment to signal their collective power. The Harris campaign’s recent ad is an acknowledgment of their potential, but it’s only the beginning. If Puerto Ricans in the diaspora mobilize and vote in record numbers, they will be issuing a declaration that they cannot be marginalized. Their message: Respect for Puerto Rico and its people is no longer optional. 

Increased Puerto Rican electoral participation in the 2024 U.S. election could mean something even more significant than keeping Democrats in the White House. Despite the perceived tension between Boricuas in the diaspora and those who live in Puerto Rico, the reality is that stateside Puerto Ricans can flex their political power on Election Day to raise awareness of the ongoing injustice on the island caused by years of neglect from federal government disaster relief, inept power companies, a federally appointed fiscal control board supported by both Democrats and Republicans, and a desire for Boricua voices to be heard after the votes are cast.

Puerto Rican voters on Election Day can do just that.

Julio Ricardo Varela

Julio Ricardo Varela is an award-winning journalist and the founder of The Latino Newsletter.