Ana Milena Varón
Catalina (USA), Oct 4 (EFE).- Latino supporters in Arizona have spread out along the roads of the Sonoran Desert to mobilize votes in favor of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and Vice President Kamala Harris, respectively, in a state where every convert counts to reach the White House.
That is the reason why the Mexican Betty Rivas and her husband, the Salvadoran Jorge Rivas, have started on their own a campaign in favor of the former Republican president with the ‘MAGA Burguer’, named after the acronym of Trump’s campaign. Make America Great Again’, a dish he proudly sells at his restaurant Sammy’s Mexican Grill in Catalina, Arizona, a small town surrounded by cliffs and saguaros.
“People are happy, they come here asking about President Trump’s hamburger and telling us that they support us and him, that is the most important thing that we are helping him win this election,” the immigrant, who has supported since 2016, tells EFE. the Republican, the one he knows in person.
In addition to the ‘MAGA Burguer’, the Rivas have been calling for small demonstrations in front of their restaurant every Saturday for five months, with which they encourage drivers to vote in favor of the former president.
The Mexican also composed the ‘Corrido de la Oreja’, where she narrates the attack that the former president suffered in Pennsylvania last July, and is part of the several songs that she has already written for her “beloved trumpito,” as she affectionately calls him.
For his part, Jorge Rivas, Betty’s husband, clarifies that the support for the former president “is genuine” and that they do not expect anything in return. “The campaign is not paying us,” emphasizes the immigrant.
The Kamala Riders
But while the Rivas wave flags and make hamburgers for Trump, in Phoenix (Arizona) a group of Latino lowrider car collectors decided to use their hobby to campaign for Vice President Harris at the ‘Cruising to the polls’ event. ‘ (Navigating to the polls), at a high school in the state capital.
The owners of the vehicles, most of them Mexican Americans, explained to about a hundred people who attended the call last Saturday the reasons why they support the vice president.
There are also solo efforts such as that of Kathy Lara, a resident of Benson, a town on the Arizona border with Mexico, who was encouraged to put up posters in support of the vice president in a totally Republican neighborhood.
“I am surrounded by signs that support Trump but I decided to make a difference and put up my big sign supporting Harris, and although I have earned some harsh looks, I think I have been creating a space for the vice president,” Lara tells EFE.
The support of Latinos was crucial for President Joe Biden to win Arizona in 2020 by just over 11,000 votes, a Democratic victory that had not happened since 1996, when Bill Clinton won.
Arizona is part of the seven key states where the presidential election on November 5 will be defined, so all efforts, no matter how minimal they may seem, could tip the balance for whoever wins the eleven electoral votes that this state provides.
Democrats are hopeful that Gallego’s almost certain victory will translate into one for Harris, but according to the average of polls on the FiveThirtyEight website, Trump leads Harris by just over a percentage point (48.1% to 46.9%). ).
However, in the latest KTVK poll, the Democrat has surpassed the Republican with 48% for her and 45% for him. EFE
