Rafael Mercado, a 54-year-old small business owner and founder of Team Havoc, a grassroots group that conducts street outreach on opioid awareness and violence prevention, said that he is voting for former President Donald Trump.
Democrats, he said, are not effective leaders and just spend their time accusing Republicans of racism.
“I’m far from racist. I just believe it’s time for change,” he said.
While Milwaukee is a Democratic stronghold, Mercado is not alone in his rejection of the party.
Latinx people who voted for Trump increased from 28% in 2016 to 36% in 2020, according to an analysis from the Pew Research Center.
The changing demographics of Latinx voters is one of the reasons why both major political parties are paying attention to cities like Milwaukee.
Latinx people, sometimes used interchangeably with “Latino,” are men, women and those who are gender nonconforming whose country of origin or ancestry comes from Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
While distinct in some ways, there is significant overlap between Latinx people and Hispanic people, whose country of origin or ancestry is primarily Spanish-speaking.
Priorities
Marty Calderon is the Hispanic outreach coordinator for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which recently set up an office on the South Side, at 1301 W. Greenfield Ave. Given increases in the overall percentage of Latinx/Hispanic people in Milwaukee, this decision makes sense.
From 2010 to 2020, the percentage of Latinx/Hispanic people within the city’s overall population increased from roughly 17% to over 20%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data.
Calderon said that inflation, crime and border security are concerns most relevant to Latinx people, and he thinks that Trump’s record on these issues help explain his growing appeal.
Like Mercado, concern about the border is one reason why Calderon supports Trump and, like Mercado, he believes that concern about the border is not racially motivated but more about law and order.
“There’s nothing wrong with having people come to the country, but they got to do it the right way,” he said.
Mercado thinks more needs to be done about unemployment and illegal drugs as well.
Young voters
The Latinx voting bloc is only expected to keep growing, largely due to the fact that more and more Latinx people are reaching voting age.
From 2016 to 2020, Latinx voters nationwide increased by nearly 31%, the largest ever four-year increase in the Latinx vote, according to a report from The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative.
The analysis and priorities of 23-year-old Amira Young are different from her older counterparts.
“I think a lot about what the world will look like when I’m not here,” she said. “I think about the children who are going to be affected, thereafter.” For Young, this means focusing on reproductive rights, treatment of low-income families and climate change.
“It’s October in Milwaukee, and it’s 75, 80 degrees,” Young said. “There’s a harsh reality we’re going to have to face.”
Young, who grew up mainly on the South Side, said she does see racism as a prevalent feature of the Republican Party. Despite this, she sees support for Trump in her own family.
In her community, she said, “we want to believe in something and hold onto something.”
“I think people look up to Trump because he’s this ‘self-made’ businessman who’s been able to do all these great things, and he’s got this great wife, who’s of different descent, who’s been able to migrate here and do all these great things,” she said.
Differing interpretations
Patricia Ruiz-Cantu, vice chair of the Democratic Party of Milwaukee County, said that Trump is exploiting what the Latinx community cares about, merely telling them that he takes their issues seriously, especially concerning the economy.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Ruiz-Cantu said, has a history of providing tangible economic resources that benefit the Latinx community. She points to pandemic-era relief that helped small business owners as an example of this support, which she says the Latino community, “who are very entrepreneurial,” needs more of.
In addition to the economy, Ruiz-Cantu thinks that the most important issues for the Latinx community are immigration and education.
But Ruiz-Cantu said that instead of telling people to vote for a specific candidate, she encourages participation.
“The Latino community must actively participate in the electoral process because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu,” she said.
‘It feels futile either way’
Diego Avila, 30, holds another view that pollsters are hearing from some younger voters.
‘It (the election) feels futile either way,” said Avila, who identified himself as “cusp Millennial-Gen Z.”
The reason for the feeling, Avila said, is the belief that the two-party system has no interest in actually meeting the needs of most people.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey showed that 28% of people hold unfavorable views of both parties – a number that increases to 37% for those ages of 18 to 29.
Avila said that he supports Harris more than Trump.
“Kamala will at least, I think, try to be better for society,” he said, adding that the issue most urgent to him is women’s health care.
Election Watch 2024
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Longtime Black and Brown voters weigh in on the election
Election 2024: What you need to know to vote in the Nov. 5 election
Young Black and Brown Milwaukeeans weigh in on the election
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Edgar Mendez, gun violence solutions reporter, contributed reporting.
For additional information about the election, including how to find your district, check out the Wisconsin Watch 2024 Voter Guide.
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