by John Cole, Pennsylvania Capital-Star
October 27, 2024

PHILADELPHIA— Vice President Kamala Harris’ 20th visit to Pennsylvania of the year included a busy day of campaigning across the state’s biggest Democratic stronghold. As she sought to  shore up support among her base, Harris also spoke about a new policy proposal focused on Puerto Rico, during a stop at Puerto Rican eatery Freddy and Tony’s Restaurant.

“Philly, we have nine days, nine days to get this done,” Harris said during an afternoon rally at the Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center. A few thousand people gathered at the youth basketball facility in Northwest Philadelphia to hear from Harris, Philadelphia’s first Black woman mayor Cherelle Parker, and state House Speaker Joanna McClinton, the first Black woman to hold that title. “And for the next nine days, no one can sit on the sidelines.”

Harris, the Democratic Party candidate for president, said that since the beginning, her campaign has been about “building coalitions.” Her visit to Philadelphia on Sunday had a particular emphasis on Black and Latino voters, two demographics key to winning the city, and the state.

Harris described the “opportunity economy” for Puerto Rico she had announced on social media earlier in the day to a gathering at Freddy and Tony’s Restaurant. By Sunday evening, the post had already been shared by prominent Puerto Rican celebrities Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin.

“It’s about giving people access to opportunity, knowing that the people in all communities — in all communities — they want, yes, a job, but they want to be able to build wealth,” she said, according to pool reports. “They want to be able to build intergenerational wealth, home ownership, small business growth, right? So I call it an opportunity economy. The thing I mentioned this morning is I’m going to create basically an opportunity economy Task Force for Puerto Rico.” 

She said the task force would be focused on bringing economic opportunities to the Puerto Rican island and address the ongoing problems with the electrical grid in Puerto Rico, per pool reports.

A Kamala Harris supporter holds a sign during a rally for the Democratic presidential candidate in Philadelphia Oct. 27, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by John Cole)

Philadelphia has the second-largest stateside Puerto Rican population among U.S. cities, only trailing New York City, according to the 2020 Census. The Center for Puerto Rican Studies reported that as of 2019, just under 500,000 Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania, making it the state with the third largest concentration in the nation.

Harris and Trump have not talked about Puerto Rico at length during previous campaign appearances in Pennsylvania, although some Republicans have used the discussion of Puerto Rico statehood as a campaign issue and as a reason to vote against Democrats. 

The Trump campaign has made an effort to win over Latino voters in Pennsylvania, including opening a “Latino Americans for Trump” office in Reading.

Polling throughout this cycle shows that Trump has continued to make gains with Latino voters, although Harris still maintains an advantage.

During a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made disparaging remarks about Puerto Rico that quickly went viral on social media.

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said. which received a “scattering of claps and jeers,” according to NBC News. The Trump campaign reportedly responded saying that “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

Harris, who arrived in Philadelphia late Saturday, began her Sunday morning attending services at The Church of Christian Compassion in West Philadelphia. There, she talked about the lessons she learned as a little girl at the church where she worshiped in Oakland, California, according to pool reports.

Harris next stopped by nearby barbershop Philly Cuts, for a conversation with young Black men and community leaders. During this appearance, she highlighted the need to recruit and retain more Black men teachers “because we know the benefit to overall society,” according to pool reports. That idea is part of an economic agenda focused on Black men that Harris announced earlier this month.

During the 2020 election, Joe Biden received significant support from Black voters, although the support was stronger among women than men. National exit polling shows that 90% of Black women voted for Biden over then-President Donald Trump, while 79% of Black men voted for Biden. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Trump gaining ground with Hispanic and Black voters. The Trump campaign has also held multiple events during the year with the intention of winning over Black voters in Philadelphia.

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat representing Georgia, told reporters in Philadelphia on Oct. 23 that he believed Harris would still win votes from Black men.

“Let me say that the Vice President has always been focused on Black men, as she’s been focused on other parts of our coalition, and I have heard this reporting about Black men jumping on the Trump bandwagon. I do not believe that we will see large swaths of black men voting for Donald Trump,” Warnock told reporters. “I think that part of what is going on is an effort to create a bandwagon with the hopes that people will jump on now.”

Warnock added that Black men are not a monolith, saying there will be some who vote for Trump, but emphasized his belief that Trump’s values “don’t align with ours.”

Leading into Harris’ Sunday events, the Trump campaign described the vice president’s visit as an “eleventh-hour swing” resulting in a “stench of desperation.”

“When Kamala is spending her precious little time rallying Democrat base voters just nine days out from Election Day, you know it’s clear that Pennsylvanians are gearing up to reject another four years of unlimited illegal immigration, rising prices, and worsening crime under Kamala and instead vote for peace, prosperity, and stability under President Donald J. Trump,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Kush Desai.

On Sunday, Harris also made a brief visit to Hakim’s Bookstore and Gift Shop, an African American-themed bookstore with books about Africa, civil rights icons, and slavery on the shelves, per pool reports.

“We’re going to do it. Victory runs through Philly. It runs through Pennsylvania,” Harris said, at the bookstore, according to pool reports. 

Parker, the city’s 100th mayor, joined Harris for much of the campaigning on Sunday. 

Parker highlighted another key component of the current Democratic coalition: the southeastern section of the commonwealth.

“Guess what the difference was between that 2016 vote and that 2020 vote?” Parker said at the afternoon rally. “More people came out to vote in the city of Philadelphia and our neighboring counties.”

She mentioned Philadelphia’s collar counties by name: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery and said “southeastern Pennsylvania is stronger together.”

McClinton cited recent appearances from Harris in Delaware County for a CNN town hall and a Republicans for Harris event in Bucks County as proof that the campaign recognizes how important the region is.

“It’s very crucial, because we understand that while our state is beautiful and awesome and diverse, and they are working in every place to get out the vote, there is a dense voting population on this side of the state, and as a result, so many times the person who wins in these collar counties is the one who will carry,” McClinton told the Capital-Star.

Ray and Margie Willis, who live in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, saw Harris speak on Sunday at the church service and the rally.

When asked which issues were most important to them in the upcoming election, Ray Willis told the Capital-Star “women’s rights and civil rights,” while Margie Willis added “jobs and housing.”

Ray Willis said he’s optimistic about Harris’ chances, given that he believes “you’re going to have a lot of women turning out.” Polling shows Harris leading among women voters, while Trump has led among men.

During Harris’ rally, she was interrupted by a protester who shouted about Gaza.

“I want to talk about Gaza for a minute,” Harris said in response. “We can and we must seize this opportunity to end this war and bring the hostages home.”

“And I will do everything in my power to meet that end,” she added.

Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes make it the largest swing state on the line this year. Trump was most recently in the state on Saturday for a rally in State College. He’s scheduled to return on Tuesday for a roundtable discussion in the Philadelphia suburbs and a rally in the Lehigh Valley.

Randyll Butler, a Philadelphia Youth Basketball Coach, opened up for Harris on Sunday at the rally. She said the nation needs a “role model for all of us,” and that “we need a most valuable player, an MVP” which was followed by “MVP” chants.

“This is the fourth quarter,” Butler said. “This race is neck and neck. We cannot get tired, we cannot get complacent, we all have to go out and we have to talk to our families and to our friends and sometimes to the other side about what’s at stake.”

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and X.