Two Spanish-language ads will air Tuesday in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, states with smaller Hispanic populations that could tip the scale in tight races.
{mosads}The ads, released by People for the American Way (PFAW), target Republican Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), linking the vulnerable incumbents to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“With Election Day rapidly approaching, we released these ads because in both Pennsylvania and North Carolina, Latino voters can be the margin of victory against Donald Trump and the Republicans,” PFAW President Michael Keegan said.
In Pennsylvania, Democrat Katie McGinty is leading Toomey by 4 points according to the latest RealClear Politics poll average.
Although Pennsylvania’s Latino voter population is relatively small — 440,000 of the state’s 9.7 million voters are Hispanic — at 4.5 percent of all registered voters, it’s larger than the difference in the polls between McGinty and Toomey.
North Carolina, where Burr holds a slim 0.8 point lead, is in a similar situation.
According to the Pew Research Center, 3.4 percent of the state’s eligible voter population is Hispanic.
Democrats nationwide are working to tie down-ballot Republicans to Trump, hoping to capitalize on the GOP presidential nominee’s unpopularity with Latinos.
The two races are crucial for both parties as they fight a neck-to-neck race for control of the Senate.
The North Carolina ad features Burr saying, “There’s not a separation between me and Donald Trump.”
Toomey, who has refused to endorse Trump, is targeted for not disavowing the nominee entirely.
The Pennsylvania ad uses a clip of Trump’s campaign kickoff in which he calls Mexican immigrants “rapists” who “bring crime,” into the country. An announcer adds, “Pat Toomey says he’s still ‘undecided’ about Trump?”
The Spanish-language ads come as Democrats and progressive activists work to capitalize on voter registration drives they’ve held in Latino communities over the past year.
While eligible Hispanic voters have traditionally had some of the lowest participation numbers of any demographic, registered Hispanics usually participate at rates comparable to whites.
Most polls show nearly 75 percent Hispanics are likely to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.