Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Nevada yesterday, Black voters in Las Vegas’ historic Westside rallied for the Harris-Walz ticket as voters across all diverse demographics show an increase in enthusiasm for the Vice President’s candidacy for President. Vice President Harris continues to demonstrate an authentic understanding of the kitchen table issues that matter most to Nevadans while outlining her agenda for a New Way Forward.
Vice President Harris’ first visit to a battleground state this year was Nevada to celebrate union contract victories. Yesterday, she packed the same venue Donald Trump failed to fill just weeks ago. This marks the Vice President’s eighth visit to Nevada this year, highlighting the critical role Nevada will play in determining our next president.
Read more about Black Nevadans rallying for Vice President Harris below:
The Guardian: ‘She’s our vision of the future’: Black Nevadans rallying for Harris hope to make history
Dan Hernandez
Key Points:
- Las Vegas’s historic Westside has long been celebrated for its Black community’s entrepreneurship, activism and resilience. The neighborhood became “historic” when America’s first racially integrated casino, the Moulin Rouge, opened in 1955, employing Black card dealers and chorus line dancers, and welcoming singers such as Sammy Davis Jr and Ella Fitzgerald to not only perform, but to dine and gamble.
- About 10% of the state’s population identifies as Black or African American, a majority of whom live in the Las Vegas Valley. According to the Harris campaign, this subset is fired up, and turnout and enthusiasm in the critical Democratic constituency may make a difference.
- Ishmael Carroll, the campaign’s regional political director focused on outreach to southern Nevada’s Black community: “It’s complete excitement. In previous elections I had to go find people. People are calling me now first thing in the morning, late at night – ‘How can I be involved? How can I participate? What can I do to help?’
- Nevada’s winner has gone on to the White House in 10 of the past 12 presidential elections.
- Harris’s Sun belt strategy to challenge Trump in North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada has its strongest chance of a win here, according to current polling estimates.
- Daniele Monroe-Moreno, a Nevada assemblywoman and chair of the Nevada state Democratic party, says the reasons for Harris’s appeal in the Westside community are multifold. It’s a diverse city with multicultural families that see themselves, their friends and neighbors in Harris’s narrative, she said, which matches their “vision of the future”.
- “We’re Black, Native American, Hispanic and AAPI all in my family,” Monroe-Moreno shares. “But we’re also straight, gay, bi, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, so when I talk about ‘the community’, I talk about all of us, because it takes all of us working together for a better future. And I believe the excitement we’re seeing with Kamala Harris is that there are so many families like mine that see her and Tim Walz, who is like that guy next door who mows the lawn for the senior who can’t do it any more … They see Kamala and Tim as people they know and can personally attach themselves to.”
- There are nonpartisan voters in Las Vegas’s historic Westside who would welcome courtship from Republicans. Brian Harris, 64, founder of the Independent Black Voters group on Facebook, says: “It’s not about the party, it’s about the agenda.”
- There’s one problem, however. “Until Republicans get rid of the white nationalism, I can’t support them,” he says.
Black Enterprise: Black Voters In Nevada Rally Behind Kamala Harris As She Tries To Make History
Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
Key Points:
- Black voters in Nevada are rallying the vote for Kamala Harris as she prepares to make history. Many [are] in Las Vegas’ Westside community, historically known for its own stance against racial injustice.
- The state’s Black electorate is small but mighty, with only 11% of the population identifying as Black in general, per Data USA. However, most Black Nevadans live in Las Vegas, and hope to lead the shift that turns the swing state Blue.
- Harris-Walz campaign organizers shared that the enthusiasm for this upcoming election has never been seen before. In regards to Harris, a new volunteer believes her authenticity plays a huge role in her chance of winning.
- “I’m really not that into politics, but given the situation right now between the two parties, I think it’s necessary to be out here getting involved,” shared first-time volunteer Lya Harvey.
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