Driving the vote: Hispanic voters in Nevada crucial in election

(NewsNation) — The road to the White House in Nevada must include the growing Hispanic vote.

In Nevada, as well as bordering Arizona, Latinos make up about 25% of registered voters, who hit the ballot box with a swirl of backgrounds, issues and traditions.

To emerge as the successor in the 2024 election, Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris need to gain approval from the nearly 1 in 4 voters in Nevada who are Hispanic.

For example, take Alina Gardner, a realtor who moved to the United States from Cuba as a young girl. She’s able to show her listings in English and Spanish.

Gardner is what’s called a “persuadable,” meaning that even though she’s a registered Republican, her vote is not set in stone.

“I get a lot of texts and emails from the Democrats, so I listen to both,” Gardner told NewsNation. “I’m open to both.”

At the same time, while she’s willing to vote for a Republican, Gardner doesn’t believe Trump should be president “at his age.”

“As of right now, it’s going to be Kamala Harris,” Gardner said.

Ivet Aldaba will have her daughters top of mind as she votes this November. The college professor is among the estimated 36 million Latinos eligible to vote this time around nationwide. That’s up from 14 million in the year 2000 — an increase of 153%.

“Having immigrant parents and them not being able to vote — at the time, I felt that civic responsibility even more,” Aldaba said.

For Aldaba, her reason for voting Democrat is reproductive rights.

“I want my daughters to have a voice, to be able to decide what they can do with their own bodies,” Aldaba said.

Meanwhile, retired blackjack dealer David Mendez says when he started showing support for Trump, he lost a lot of friends. He’s voting for Trump because of what he says are the culture wars playing out in his casino.

Rudy Zamora, of the nonpartisan voter engagement group Chicanos Por La Causa, serves a community that mirrors the country as a whole.

There’s young voter apathy he sees as well as distrust in election integrity.

“I’ve heard conversations from my aunts and uncles saying, ‘Oh, back in my country, my vote doesn’t really matter,’ or ‘The election was already bought,'” Zamora said. “That’s not the case here. Every single vote is one vote, one voice, and we have to ensure that our voice is being represented at the polls.”