Las Vegas : Vice President Kamala Harris vowed Saturday that, if elected, she'd eliminate federal taxes on tips paid to restaurant workers and scores of other service employees, echoing a pledge that her opponent in November, Donald Trump, has made in a rare moment of political overlap from both sides.
Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries. Trump made a similar promise at his own rally in the city in June though neither he nor Harris are likely to be able to fully do that without actions from Congress.
It is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families, Harris said, pledging to raise the minimum wage and eliminate tips for service and hospitality workers.
The Democratic presidential nominee and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, came to Nevada as the final stop of a battleground blitz in which their party has shown new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. On Sunday, the vice president is holding a San Francisco fundraiser that has already raised more than USD 12 million, her campaign said, with House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi among those set to speak.
There were 12,000-plus people inside the campus basketball arena and, before the event started, law enforcement opted to close the doors to the event due to people becoming ill while waiting outside to go through security in the 109-degree heat. Approximately 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were shut down.
Walz referenced that during his speech, but turned it into an applause line by adding of Nevada, "don't worry, we're going to be back a lot. As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Biden narrowly beat Republican Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada.
Trump, the former president, tried to create more support in a state that relies on the service industry with his own, previous pledge to make workers' tips tax-free. But the union representing 60,000 workers in that industry, the Culinary Workers Union, announced Friday night its endorsement of Harris. About 54 per cent of the union's members are Latino, 55 per cent women and 60 per cent immigrants.
The path to victory runs through Nevada, the union said in a statement, and the Culinary Union will deliver Nevada for President Kamala Harris and Vice President Tim Walz.
Also, Adelante PAC, the political arm of the nation's oldest Latino civil rights group, League of United Latin American Citizens, endorsed Harris. That was a first for the 95-year-old LULAC, which has in the past steered away from formally throwing its support behind political candidates.
AP VoteCast found in 2020 that 14 per cent of Nevada voters were Hispanic, with Biden winning 54 per cent of their votes. His margin with Hispanic voters was slightly better nationwide, a sign that Democrats cannot take this bloc of voters for granted. There's an incredible energy here among the college students and community members who are coming together to support and listen to our next president, Kamala Harris," said Imer Cespedes-Alvarado, 21.
Studying political science at UNLV, Cespedes-Alvarado is a first generation American citizen who spent his childhood in Costa Rica before making the difficult decision at 16 to return alone to the US for better opportunities.
Harris is hoping to drive a wedge with Republicans by focusing on issues such as access to abortion and repairs to the US immigration system. Her message is that Trump killed a bipartisan deal this year to improve security on the southern border and address immigration issues, with Democrats saying he did so in hopes of improving his own political odds.
Because Harris' portfolio in the Biden administration included the root causes of migration and due to some of her comments before the 2020 election, Republicans have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration. Trump has said of Harris, As a border czar, she's been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.
He's proposed mass deportations if he returns to the White House, but AP VoteCast found in 2020 that nearly 7 in 10 Nevada voters said that immigrants living in the United States illegally should be offered the chance to apply for legal status.
Krista Hall, 60, and her husband Thaddeus Hager, 58, attended Harris' Las Vegas rally and said that they haven't been more excited about an election since President Barack Obama's campaign in 2008.
This is as electric, if not more than, Hall said, noting that they attended several Obama rallies at the time. Hager said he's confident that Harris and Walz will win in a landslide.
