ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and a lineup of local, state and federal Democratic leaders rallied hundreds of enthusiastic supporters at Dieruff High School Saturday afternoon, looking to drive up Latino voter participation as the 2024 election cycle enters its final weeks.
The campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, spent Saturday appealing to the region's growing Latino population, stressing their efforts to grow the middle class and create opportunities for small business owners.
Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley are at the epicenter of American politics as each are battlegrounds that could determine control of the Oval Office and U.S. House for years ahead. While Latino voters have historically not turned out in high numbers in the region, their growing numbers in the Lehigh Valley mean they could have an outsized effect on the neck-and-neck races.
"We need to win this state, and we need to win right here in your community. So, you all, right here, have an actual say in who could be the next president of the United States," Emhoff said.
"Kamala understands how important it is to get a fair chance, a fair chance to live this American Dream — to get a fair chance to prove yourself."Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff
The crowd was in high spirits throughout the event, dancing to pop songs in English and Spanish and waving Spanish-language campaign signs such as "Boricuas con Harris-Walz" ("Puerto Ricans with Harris-Walz") and "Cuando luchamos, ganamos" ("When we fight, we win."). Emhoff basked in their energy, laughing with vocal supporters who shouted their support throughout his 23-minute speech.
"I think I'm bringing y'all everywhere with me. I love this crowd. Let's go! Let's hit the road!" he said to cheers.
When he wasn't playing with the crowd, Emhoff pitched his wife as a champion of the middle class. First, it was as a prosecutor who took hardened criminals off the street, he said, before she became a senator and vice president who fought to lower prescription drug costs. Her campaign has pitched plans to provide greater tax breaks for first-time homeowners, to build millions of more housing units and to increase tax credits for people starting their own small businesses, he said.
"Kamala understands how important it is to get a fair chance, a fair chance to live this American dream — to get a fair chance to prove yourself," Emhoff said.
Emhoff and speakers such as U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona compared her efforts and messaging to former President Donald Trump's. They criticized Trump's handling of Hurricane Maria and its devastation of Puerto Rico, his pride in appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade and the controversial Project 2025 policy guidelines authored by many of his advisers.
The choice was clear, Cardona said as he led the crowd in chanting the lyrics of Black Sheep's hip hop classic, "The Choice Is Yours" — "You can get with this, or you can get with that."
"We've got one candidate who embraces diversity in our country, the daughter of immigrants. And you have one candidate who said immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country," Cardona said as the audience burst into loud boos.
During her address, Wild spoke about the importance of not only lifting Harris to the presidency but of her seat in Congress. Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District is one of the most contested in the nation. With just a few votes determining control of the House, both parties and their allies have poured millions of dollars into winning the seat in a bid to control the legislative agenda in Washington.
"This seat, right here, my seat could very well be the determining factor of whether Democrats take back the House of Representatives. I'm not overstating this at all," Wild told the crowd.
If she's elected, she would continue to fight for lowering the cost of prescription drugs but would also prioritize early childhood education, she said. That means getting children into classroom settings sooner and providing preschool teachers a living wage, she said. It would also free up caregivers to pursue career opportunities.
"It will be great for the kids. It will be great for their parents who want to go to work but their child care bill makes it almost not worth going back to work," Wild said.
Other speakers included Mayor Matt Tuerk; state Rep. Danilo Burgos, D-Philadelphia; Philadelphia City Councilwoman Quetcy Lozada; and U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y.
More than 350 people were on hand for the event with some coming from as far away as New York City and Philadelphia.
Jacqueline Morales Chavez, a Dieruff alumna now living in Montgomery County, said she showed up to throw her support behind the Harris campaign.
As a mother and grandmother, she wanted to stand up for reproductive rights, she said. While she would never vote for Trump, she said she was not enthusiastic about a second term for President Joe Biden, either.
But that's all changed with the new Democratic ticket, she said.
"I am for Kamla Harris. She is our future," Morales Chavez said.
