Frederica Freyberg:

We move now from campaigns and candidates to the voters. Specifically, the Latino vote. Here’s Patricia Gomez of Milwaukee PBS.

Patricia Gomez:

On the report of the Pew Research Center, after Whites, Latinos will be the largest group of voters in the November presidential election. For some, they are the sleeping giant that is just beginning to wake up. According to the Pew Research Center, a record of 32 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the 2020 presidential election. 183,000 Latinos are eligible to vote in Wisconsin.

Lauro Rodriguez:

Are you going to swing and try to jump on the other one?

Patricia Gomez:

Lauro Rodriguez is a retired combat marine who has served two tours in Iraq and wants President Trump to be reelected.

Lauro Rodriguez:

I believe the Latino vote was always there. It was always strong. It was always big. But now the Latinos are looking at the other side. They’re looking at the Republican Party and they’re seeing a straight contrast between the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republican Party seems to be more aligned with the Latino voter. They’re conservatives. They’re family-orientated and they’re church-goers, they’re religious.

Patricia Gomez:

Neumann-Ortiz leads one of the most recognized, immigrant workers advocate organizations in the country. Voces de La Frontera Action supporting the Biden-Harris ticket.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz:

It’s inspiring because this year Latinos nationwide are the second largest voting group after White voters. And in Wisconsin, that power in numbers is also true because we saw how that was — the impact that that had in the 2018 elections with the election of a pro-immigrant governor, Governor Evers. And leading into this November 2020 election, the numbers of Latinos is more than the margin of victory in any presidential or state election.

Patricia Gomez:

Regarding why they support their candidates, Rodriguez and Neumann-Ortiz envision different scenarios.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz:

The policies that have been passed are unconscionable: the separation of families, the jailing of children. It’s just the repeal of DACA/DAPA that was won under the Obama administration. It’s just relentless. And we have the power to defeat the Trump administration. This is a far-right, white nationalist administration, the people that are in it, their ideology. We have the power to defeat them. It’s an absolutely critical election that we win and that Latinos are the ones to deliver that electoral victory to a Biden and Harris who are running on a pro-immigrant, pro-worker platform.

Lauro Rodriguez:

With Donald Trump’s tax cuts, the corporations were able to provide not only more jobs, but with supply and demand, where there’s no people to go ahead and fill those jobs, they started raising. My increase in pay went from a little under $43,000 to $70,000 right now. So that is a big increase on my annual salary. So I believe that was because of Trump.

Frederica Freyberg:

That was Patricia Gomez of Milwaukee PBS reporting.