Politics

The Puerto Rican vote in Pennsylvania could have a powerful impact this election

Published

1 year ago

November 11, 2024

The Puerto Rican vote in Pennsylvania could have a powerful impact this election

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.

Politics

Former ICE official falls short in Ohio battleground district GOP primary

Published

3 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former ICE official Madison Sheahan lost a GOP primary in a battleground Ohio House district on Tuesday, a relief to Republicans who worried she could sabotage their chances of flipping the seat.

Former state Rep. Derek Merrin won the GOP nomination in the 9th Congressional District for the second cycle in a row, and will face Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in November. He lost to Kaptur by less than one percentage point in 2024.

Republicans see the seat as a prime pickup opportunity after the Ohio legislature redrew the state’s congressional map to make the district more favorable for Republicans.

Merrin’s victory comes with a sigh of relief from Republicans in the state who raised concerns about Sheahan’s background — she served as former deputy ICE director under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — being a soft target for Kaptur in a general election.

Sheahan drew attacks from fellow Republicans in the primary for her role in overseeing President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement operations in major cities, which triggered violent confrontations and protests.

Those clashes culminated in the killing of two American citizens by immigration officials in Minneapolis. Sheahan launched her campaign days after the killing of Renee Good, but before the death of Alex Pretti.

Trump didn’t endorse ahead of the primary, but the race was defined in part by candidates seeking to be the most MAGA candidate in the field. Sheahan ran TV ads touting her role at ICE and her connection to the Trump administration. Merrin went up with an ad in the race’s final days highlighting the endorsement he received from Trump during his 2024 campaign.

Kaptur starts the general election fight with a significant resource advantage over Merrin. Federal Election Commission filings from mid-April showed Kaptur with $3.1 million in cash on hand, dwarfing Merrin’s $189,000 in reserves.

Both the DCCC and the NRCC are expected to invest significantly in the race.

Politics

‘The Kamala Harris problem’: Vance’s 2028 hopes hinge on Trump, Iowa Republicans say

Published

4 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

DES MOINES, Iowa — Vice President JD Vance was greeted warmly by Republicans in Iowa on Tuesday, with would-be caucus goers and strategists optimistically curious about his potential as a 2028 presidential contender.

But first, they’re hoping he can help turn the economy around.

Vance’s fate is unavoidably linked to President Donald Trump’s. He’ll either carry the mantle of Trump’s accomplishments all the way into his own term in the White House — or be dragged down by Trump’s dismal approval ratings, which have spiraled amid an unpopular war in Iran and voters’ economic pessimism.

During Vance’s first trip as vice president to the early caucus state — where he was campaigning for Republican Rep. Zach Nunn at a rally in a manufacturing warehouse in this battleground House district — Vance’s close ties with Trump were on full display. He credited the president repeatedly for tariffs, tax cuts and agriculture industry aid. And he avoided any mention of 2028.

But his association with Trump’s agenda presents a high-risk, high-reward proposition that could make or break his political future, operatives and rallygoers said.

“That’s the risk of being part of an administration,” Iowa GOP strategist David Kochel said. “This is the Kamala Harris problem.”

Rep. Randy Feenstra, who is running for governor, said in between shaking hands with attendees that Iowans “absolutely” associate Vance with Trump and expressed confidence that the White House can deliver outcomes that benefit the state.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. “We trust Trump and the vice president and what they’re doing, and things are going to be great.”

Republicans in Iowa are loath to turn their back on Trump, the 2024 caucus winner who remains deeply popular among the base. Faded Trump-Vance campaign signs still line the rural roads around the state, and Iowa Republicans said they remained largely optimistic that Trump, with Vance by his side, can steer the economy in the right direction.

In a brief post-rally interview, Nunn said part of the benefit of the vice president’s trip was allowing Iowa Republican officials to “share what they want to see out of the next leader in 2028.”

But Americans’ patience for the administration’s economic policy to have a positive effect is wearing thin. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday found 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy and 76 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of cost of living issues. And even as Vance blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration for the teetering economy, an April POLITICO Poll found 46 percent of Americans feel Trump bears at least some responsibility for the state of the economy.

And the economic effects of Trump’s policies are particularly hard felt in Iowa’s vast agriculture industry. Trump’s tariff regime blocked off markets that had been reliable purchasers of U.S. agriculture goods, while the war in Iran has spiked the cost of diesel, which farmers depend on heavily.

Jake Chapman, a former president of the Iowa Senate who has advised multiple Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, said the conflict and the trade negotiations with other countries are top of mind for Iowa Republicans.

“A lot of people are thinking about foreign policy in particular, and how that impacts ag inputs and our agriculture economy,” he said.

In his speech, Vance acknowledged that the Trump administration hasn’t fully delivered on its economic promises. “We got a lot more work to do,” Vance told the crowd of hundreds. “We recognize that work. We’re excited about that work. That’s why you sent us to Washington, D.C.”

Still, those negative feelings towards Trump appear to be spilling over to Vance. That same poll found 48 percent of Americans disapprove of Vance — slightly worse than other senior Trump administration officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and fellow potential 2028 candidate Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio’s ascension in the 2028 shadow primary — both in the eyes of Americans and in standing with Trump’s inner circle — further complicates Vance’s path to the nomination. Eric Branstad, the son of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and adviser to Trump’s three presidential campaigns in Iowa, said Vance’s portfolio may not resonate with Iowans as much as Rubio’s in an administration juggling multiple high-profile foreign conflicts.

“They’ve watched the secretary of state completely perform. He’s been put in all of the tough spots, and he has overperformed,” Branstad said. “The vice president is performing great. It’s just not been as noticeable as the secretary of state.”

Vance, however, has gotten an early start on building a campaign infrastructure, should he so choose to activate it. He has been a frequent surrogate and fundraiser for the GOP’s midterm operation and has campaigned for Republicans in battleground seats around the country. On Tuesday, he voted in Ohio’s competitive 1st District GOP primary and headlined a fundraiser in Oklahoma before travelling to Iowa.

“He’s the man who’s leading the charge to win the midterms,” Nunn said during his remarks.

Even as Vance stayed focused on this year’s elections on Tuesday, some Republicans are ready to look beyond the midterms. GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Steen said on the outskirts of the rally he thinks Iowa Republicans are eager to organize around the next generation of party leadership.

“I don’t know why not just start talking about 2028,” Steen said. “We need to know who we’re going to be getting behind. And if they did that now, I don’t think it’d offend anybody. I think it’d be a great thing.”

The vice president’s office declined to comment on Vance’s thinking about a future presidential campaign.

Whether or not the vice president can carry the ideological torch for Trump’s political movement may depend on how closely Vance — or any 2028 hopeful — can align with Trump. Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann said at the rally he doesn’t believe the next Republican presidential nominee necessarily has to appeal directly to Trump’s base to be successful.

“The Republican Party is multifaceted,” Kaufmann said. “We have MAGA voters… We have Christian evangelicals, we have business, we have Libertarians. I think all of them together are going to unite around some of the basic principles that everybody shares.”

Yet being Trump’s vice president brings certain advantages with Republican voters. Even if Vance isn’t afforded the goodwill that brought the president a dominant wire-to-wire favorite in the 2024 Republican primaries, Kochel said Vance “gets one of the gold tickets” in the contest.

“[Vance] will be the front-runner going into any caucuses that we have here in Iowa,” GOP governor candidate and state Rep. Eddie Andrews said on the sidelines of Tuesday’s rally.

But Iowa caucusgoers are notoriously scrupulous when vetting future world leaders. And Nunn acknowledged that Vance will at some point need to forge his own path to leading the party.

“Nobody can walk in Donald Trump’s footsteps, because it’s Donald Trump,” Nunn said.