In North Philadelphia, Puerto Rican voters were hoping to be a part of history in electing Harris the first female president of the United States.
“Kamala, I believe in her. I believe what she says, and I think it’d be great to have a woman president,” Yahaira Rodriguez, 33, said outside John B. Stetson Middle School. “I’m all about morality, and Trump doesn’t stand for anything that I stand for.”
A steady stream of voters entered the school, some with their children, as a DJ played reggaeton, bachata and hip-hop. The music brought people together as they danced with their loved ones and with strangers. The gates outside the school were decorated with Spanish signs reading “La Presidenta,” which translates to “the Female President,” and “HARRIS-WALZ ¡ VAMOS PA’LANTE!,” which means “let’s move forward.”
“I would love to see history made with the first woman to be president,” said Javier Sanchez, 36.
Sanchez said he valued Harris’ experience in government and as the current vice president.
“I’m looking forward to her winning and actually doing the things that she says she’s going to be able to do for us,” he said.
Sanchez said comments a comedian made recently at a Trump rally calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” were an “epic fail.”
“As Latinos, we stand united,” he said.
Christianea Valentine, 33, a mother of three, went to vote with two of her children, her 4-year-old daughter and her 16-month-old son. Valentine, who is Puerto Rican and Black, said her most important issue in voting for Harris was “women’s rights. Especially as I’m a woman and I have a daughter, that was a big thing for me.”
She said she found the comedian’s comments about Puerto Rico “very upsetting.”
“I think what’s more upsetting for me is seeing that some Puerto Ricans are actually still voting for the Republican Party,” she said.
Valentine said she used to think “our vote doesn’t count, but it truly does.”
“For me, more specifically, I have three brown babies, so I just feel like it’s very important that I come out and set the example,” she said.
