Vice President Kamala Harris was the keynote speaker at the 39th Annual Conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officers (NALEO), the group's first in-person conference since 2019 that took place on June 24th this year in Chicago, Illinois.

Prior to the event, Arturo Vargas, CEO of the NALEO Educational Fund said it would be an honor to have Vice President Harris at the Chicago Latino leaders gathering at the nation's largest Latino political convention, according to The Hill. 

“Harris’s presence at a Hispanic policymakers’ forum comes as the vice president has struggled to find her place in a crisis-laden administration, particularly taking heat over her management of the regional migration portfolio. For Harris, a California native, the NALEO speech is an opportunity to connect with a Hispanic power structure that holds particular sway in the West”.

And the administration’s decision to send a top official to NALEO’s conference is a signal of its interest in Hispanic voters.

NALEO is a nonpartisan grouping of the country’s more than 6,800 Hispanic elected officials. While Latinos are much more likely to vote for Democrats nationwide, Republican efforts in targeted Hispanic communities have paid off, creating a narrative of a Hispanic “swing” toward the GOP, according to The Hill.

In the most recent congressional special election, GOP Representative Mayra Flores (Texas) defeated Democratic candidate Dan Sánchez in an 85% Latino district in South Texas, and the victory was interpreted as a sign of a shift to the right of Latinos.

In a recent presentation on NALEO's predictions for the Latino vote in 2022, Vargas commented on the importance of direct outreach to Latino voters: “We need to ensure that they are motivated that they are contacted by candidates and parties because that individual contact and touch is what drives Latino voter turnout. So, our call to candidates and parties is to not take the Latino vote for granted. Whether you’re Democrat or Republican, you have the opportunity to reach out to Latino voters if you invest in this electorate”, as reproduced by The Hill.

Here is an excerpt from Kamala Harris' speech at the Conference: “And I partnered with so many of NALEO members on so many issues that range from supporting small businesses, to immigration reform, to voting rights, education, and so many more issues. And over the years, […] I have spoken with this organization many times.  But I am honored that this is the first time that I, in person, am speaking with you as Vice President of the United States. So, I believe — in fact, I know — there is a common characteristic among us all: We all serve because we believe in the magnificence of our nation and its potential.  We all believe in fighting to achieve our nation’s highest ideals, knowing, as I said earlier, they don’t just happen.  We don’t just achieve them by being, we achieve them by being committed to reaching those ideals. We all believe in a future where the promise of liberty and justice is made real for all Americans.  We believe in a future where hard work pays off, where families can get ahead and stay ahead.  […] We believe that all communities have a right to be safe and healthy. And we believe that anyone should be able to have a dream and achieve that dream — a future where immigrants have the opportunity to have what they deserve in terms of a pathway towards citizenship. We believe in a nation and in a future where protecting the freedom to vote is not a partisan issue. We believe that women should be able to make decisions about their own bodies without government interference”.