Harris' campaign advertisements portray tough-on-immigration stance
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on Aug. 8 in Wayne, Michigan. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A new campaign ad from Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris promotes a tough-on-immigration message as her party looks to fend off attacks from the right on an issue of top interest to voters.
Why it matters: Harris' campaign is navigating how to promote her history with U.S.-Mexico border policy to attract swing voters as well as Latinos.
- "Fixing the border is tough, so is Kamala Harris," a narrator said in the ad released this week, which is running in Arizona and Nevada, per a campaign statement.
- Besides her experience in the White House, a separate ad from this week talks up her prosecutorial record and her role in advocating for families when she was California attorney general.
Driving the news: "As a border state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border," one ad said.
- "As vice president, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades. And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking."
The other ad, released Thursday, aims to reach Latinos and highlights her family's immigrant roots.
- "When you're raised by an immigrant mother, you learn what's possible with determination," the narrator says in the ad.
Between the lines: Democrats no longer hold the robust advantage among Latinos they once did on immigration as Latinos have increasingly expressed support for stricter border policies.
- Latino strategists say Harris could perform well with Latinos in part by playing up her background as a U.S.-born child of immigrants.
- An estimated 36.2 million U.S. Latinos are eligible to vote this election, many who have ties to immigration through their families.
The intrigue: Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) was explicit regarding Democrats' border messaging in a statement Friday on X.
- "This year, we go on offensive on immigration and border security," he wrote. "There is no choice to be made between being the party of border security and being a party that celebrates legal immigration and lifts up immigrant communities."
Flashback: The GOP has been ready to highlight Harris' history with the border since before she launched her campaign.
- A Republican-backed ad in early July targeted Harris as President Biden's "enabler-in-chief' on border policy.
- During the 2020 election cycle, she said she supported decriminalizing illegal border crossings. More recently, she said her position on border crossings is the same as the Biden administration's, Axios' Stef Kight reported.
Go deeper: Now atop the ticket, Harris pivots from some progressive policies
