I used to try to get Latinos to vote Republican, but I no longer agree with that.

By Robert S. Nix

In Pennsylvania, an estimated 615,000 Latinos will be eligible to vote in November.

That's more than seven times the margin President Joe Biden had in 2020, when he won Pennsylvania by 80,500 votes. In 2016, Donald Trump won the state by an even smaller margin of 44,300 votes, which was the key to his surprise victory.

Now, as Pennsylvanians prepare once again to decide the fate of the nation, the Latino vote may well be the deciding factor in November, with many keeping open the option of a possible vote for Trump.

Michael Rivera, a Republican county commissioner in Berks County, told Politico in February that many of his Latino voters under 40 are Trump fans.

Juan Martinez, a small business owner from Easton, said earlier this year that his 2024 presidential run was on the line and he was looking for candidates who would give him good reasons to support them. Martinez, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, said he wanted a president “with good values ​​and morals” who will continue to move America forward and “help us achieve the American dream.”

This sounds familiar, because for a long time it was my job to talk to voters like Rivera and Martinez. Twenty years ago, when I was reaching out to Hispanics on behalf of the Pennsylvania Republican Party and Republican candidates, swing voters like these were exactly the people I wanted to reach.

Back then, my argument was relatively straightforward: “While the Democratic Party takes the Latino vote for granted, the core values ​​of the Republican Party offer Latinos the best path to the American dream. Democrats say they're on your side, but Republicans walk the talk.” Economic opportunity, upward mobility, personal freedom—these were the hallmarks of the GOP of that era.

Maria Montero, who ran for the Republican congressional nomination in the Lehigh Valley, said earlier this year of the region's Latino population: “They don't need to change their values. Their values ​​already align with those of the Republicans.”

Unfortunately, that party no longer exists. Today's Republican Party will have a harder time convincing Hispanic voters that it still stands for the values ​​that once made it so attractive to many in that community. That's because it has been completely taken over by Trump, whose obvious unfitness for office casts a long shadow over the party and hampers its public relations efforts. Instead of a strong economic argument, we get a steady stream of his personal grievances, conspiracy theories, and lies.

Today, the Trump-Vance team appears intent on scaring Hispanics and encouraging them in November, with ads and public statements prominently featuring migrant crime and the current administration's perceived anti-business bias. And until recently, there were signs that this strategy was working. Trump was comfortably ahead of Biden before Biden dropped out of the race.

But now everything is different. Since Kamala Harris replaced Biden on the ballot, she has caught up with Trump and is ahead of him in some polls in Pennsylvania. And there are signs that she is starting to win back much of the Hispanic vote that Biden lost.

It used to be a great honor to represent the Republican Party in Pennsylvania. But those days are sadly over. The Trump-Vance team and the MAGA movement have no interest in helping Pennsylvania's Latinos – or anyone else – achieve the American dream. The GOP is no longer the party of small business, self-initiative and free enterprise that it once was. Instead, Trump promises that his second term will be all about “retribution” and “settling the score” and that he will hold everyone who has opposed him accountable.

Republicans who support Nikki Haley in the 2024 primaries would be “permanently disqualified.” Trump talks about invoking the Insurrection Act, using the Justice Department as a weapon for revenge, and carrying out mass deportations of illegal immigrants and political opponents. “Make America Great Again” increasingly sounds like the cry of an angry and bitter demagogue in the face of these threats. I am confident that a critical mass of Hispanics in Pennsylvania will see through Trump's lies and deliver victory to the only pro-Democratic candidate in this race.

But for many, it's still a difficult decision. It can be painful to switch “sides,” especially for the sizable portion of Hispanic voters who have long identified as Republican. That's why I'm part of Republican Voters Against Trump, a nationwide campaign involving former Trump voters who will never support him again.

The group was active across the state, running ads and billboards that spoke directly to Pennsylvanians – even former Trump supporters – and spread a simple and clear message: Never again.

Retaliation, hatred, division, and fear will never be the path to the American dream. Yet the MAGA movement will spend the next 75 days doing its best to deceive the people of Pennsylvania into believing that their best interests are at stake. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, since we're talking about Trump – a well-documented liar and convicted felon – we already knew this. Now it's up to us to make sure our fellow citizens know it, too.

Robert S. Nix is ​​a Philadelphia attorney who served as a political consultant to the Republican Hispanic Campaign and co-directed the national Hispanic campaign for the Bush-Cheney contingent in 2004. He is a member of Republican Voters Against Trump. He can be reached at [email protected].