As pressure mounts for President Biden to step down from the Democratic ticket, some strategists have been trying to assess Vice President Kamala Harris' standing with Latinos and other voters who will play a key role in the upcoming elections.

The big picture: Harris is adamant she is not seeking the nomination, but political strategists have been exploring all possible avenues in case Biden drops out of the race.

• "Vice President Harris is proud to be President Biden's running mate,"  Brian Fallon, Harris' campaign communications director, told Axios in a statement.

State of play: Axios Latino, in partnership with Noticias Telemundo and Ipsos, has been polling U.S. Latinos' opinions of Harris since 2021.

• As of March, 39% of respondents in the poll said they had a favorable opinion about Harris, compared to 48% in December 2021.
• That puts her slightly behind Biden's favorability, which was 41% in March and 53% in December 2021.

Yes, but: The share of respondents who have an unfavorable opinion of Biden is about the same as for Harris, "which suggests that her reputation all in all is a little bit better, a little bit stronger with the Latino community," Ipsos senior vice president Chris Jackson says.

• Still, about one in five Latino respondents said they don't have an opinion on Harris, "so there is still a little bit of introduction that would need to happen with the community," Jackson says.
• "But that still puts her in a better position than Biden is in, or Donald Trump, whose negatives are much higher," he says, adding that she's also ahead of national figures like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is not as well-known as Harris among Latinos.

A new poll out yesterday of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents in swing states points to strong support for Harris to take over the ticket if Biden were to step down.

• 67% of overall respondents in the poll by Way to Win, a progressive group that connects donors with campaigns, said they'd support Harris stepping in.
• 52% of Latino respondents said the same.
• The poll was of 2,074 voters, including 260 Latinos. The margin of error is +/-2.3%.

What they're saying: Way to Win president Tory Gavito says that although Harris is about as popular as Biden, her favorability rises when voters are told about her work for reproductive rights and the economy.

• "What's more striking is there's more room to grow. Because she's doing well with young people and voters of color particularly, it shows that we can continue to raise the feeling with those critical portions of the Democratic base that Biden's been struggling with over the course of the cycle," Gavito says.
• "Democrats can't afford to waste any time not doing all we can to defeat MAGA and that means boosting the ticket we have," Gavito adds.

Continue reading

Mexican cinematographer Alejandro Martínez, who has worked on "Fallout" and "House of the Dragon," tells Axios Latino that being part of a team behind two of TV's biggest successes has been a blast and creative boon.

Zoom in: Martínez, born in Mexico to a family steeped in the local film industry, was nominated last year in the TV categories of the American Society of Cinematography's awards for his work on the ninth episode of the first season of "Dragon." He's the lead cinematographer for this Sunday's episode of the show's second season.

What they're saying: "It's massive wading into these worlds that have a sort of baggage in terms of fan expectations, where some things need to be faithful but you can also play creatively," Martínez says.

• "Both shows are massive endeavors made by people who come from all over, and the feeling of so many working in tandem for the same cause is indescribable."
• He adds that he's glad there's also a growing recognition of crew members, as seen after last year's Hollywood strikes, "because there's truly so much thought and talent going into these productions."

Martínez's first major credit was 2006's Mexican horror film "KM 31," based on a legend about a highway outside of Mexico City.

• He says the film's popularity in genre festivals outside of Mexico led to him getting work in the U.S., helping him build a movie résumé both in Hollywood and beyond.
• He's done work on shows like the TV adaptation of "Scream" and on "The Alienist." Those helped net him the "House of the Dragon"' job, "which was major because I obviously was already a huge fan of the 'Game of Thrones' world," he says.

The big picture: Latino directors, scriptwriters and showrunners are still few and far in between in TV, according to UCLA's yearly Hollywood diversity report.

• There is no demographic data on Latino representation in other crew positions, including that of cinematographers.
• Martínez says he hopes the deep pool of talent from Mexico and other places is increasingly recognized so those numbers are boosted.
• "We're so capable, making interesting things, breaking ground often within the industry," he says.

Share this story

A new survey found that 33% of Hispanic employees in the U.S. — the highest of any race or ethnicity — are low-wage workers, or earn less than $17 an hour.

Why it matters: Latinos are roughly 19% of the U.S. population, meaning they are overrepresented in low-wage jobs that often have inflexible hours and make it difficult to build wealth.

Zoom in: The report by Oxfam, a global anti-poverty organization, was released this week. Oxfam revised their definition of a low-wage worker this year, from those earning less than $15 an hour to those earning less than $17.

• Oxfam's report analyzes both Census and Labor Department data.
• 32% of Black workers and 21% of Asian workers are considered low-wage employees, per the report.

Continue reading

1. Venezuela's regime is saying President Nicolás Maduro is being "disadvantaged" before the July 28 presidential elections because of U.S. and European sanctions.

• The claim was made while Maduro's government, in power since 2013, has been accused of repeatedly stifling the opposition before the elections.
• Foreign Minister Yván Gil made the comments yesterday during a meeting with foreign ambassadors.

2. El Salvador's Congress approved a 28th extension of a state of emergency that allows authorities to suspend some civil rights in the name of combating crime.

• Under the state of emergency, first declared in March of 2022, authorities can detain without a warrant anyone suspected of being in a gang and incarcerate them indefinitely.
• President Nayib Bukele has repeatedly defended it as the most appropriate security policy, even after reports of innocent people being rounded up and of mysterious deaths inside the prisons.

Huge congrats to Karla Rodriguez, who is now the communications director for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' BOLD Pac!

• Karla most recently worked as press secretary for Rep. Sylvia Garcia.

Congrats, Karla!