Harris

first Black president— will provide the chaser when he returns to South Florida on Monday to rally voters the day before the election.

Getting core Democratic voters and communities of color to the polls during the final weekend of early voting and on ElectionDay is a key pillar in Biden’s Florida strategy.

“I do believe a path to victory runs through Florida,” Harris said.

“Soul to the Polls” events — long a boon to Democratic turnout— were held Saturday and will be held Sunday across the state, where Black churches encourage worshipers to cast their ballots.

Sunday is the last day for early voting in South Florida.

Harris made direct appeals to Black and Latino voters during her speeches, telling South Florida to “honor the ancestors,” such as the late civil rights icon John Lewis and the suffragettes who fought to expand voting rights.

“Honor people like the late great John Lewis who shed his blood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge so we could vote,” Harris said in Miami-Dade. “I knowhe hears you!”

After her Miami-Dade speech, Harris met with Black leaders in Miami Gardens, Florida’s largest Black majority city.

Democratic strategists see some positive signs. Josh Mendelsohn, CEO of Hawkfish, a Democratic data and technology firm, said communities of color on an absolute basis are over-performing their totals from the 2016 election and make up the bulk of new registrants in the state.

But one source ofDemocratic concern is MiamiDade County, where Democratic turnout is lagging. As of Saturday, Republicans had turned out 66% of their registered voters in Miami- Dade County, compared with a turnout of 59% for Democrats, a 7-point gap.

“This is all about Democratic turnout,” Mendelsohn said. “It’s going to matter. ... Getting communities of color to come out is just critical. There is a yellow light. I don’t think there is necessarily a red light, but it is something we are really carefully watching.”

Harris said the campaign has devoted substantial resources to courting South Florida voters, including Blacks and Latinos in Miami-Dade, and she’s optimistic they will showup for Biden.

“I believe folks are turning out because they know what is at stake,” she said.

Another key objective for Democrats on Saturday: Make sure unreturned Democratic mail ballots arrive by the time polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. DebbieWasserman Schultz said 5,400 Black voters in her district have vote-by-mail ballots that they haven’t yet returned.

Harris urged voters to choose the candidate who says “Black LivesMatter.”

“Whenwe vote, we win,” Harris said. “Let us not ever let anyone take our power fromus.”

Harris delivered similar speeches during her three South Florida campaign stops.

She held drive-in rallies in Miami- Dade and Palm Beach counties. In Broward County, she spoke at a pavilion with cutouts of the letters “V- O-T-E” dotted with candy corn in the background.

About 120 Democratic activists and elected officials listened to Harris’ speech at the Fort Lauderdale park. The drive- in rallies in Miami-Dade and Broward counties attracted several hundred cars.

Harris criticized President Donald Trump’s management of the coronavirus pandemic, saying it is now a “mass casualty event” that hasn’t been seen since World War II. She highlighted how Blacks and Latinos are statistically more likely to die of the disease. She blasted Trump for scaling back Obamacare and cutting taxes for the rich.

“Broward County, we are going to do everything we can over the next three days and, God willing, we are going to win that election, and Joe and I are going to get rid of that tax cut and invest that money into working people and families,” Harris said.

Her South Florida stops come with the presidential race deadlocked in Florida, a crucial battleground state. Trump will fire up his base at a rally that starts at 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Miami- Opa Locka Executive Airport, an apparent violation of Miami-Dade’s midnight curfew intended to slowthe spread of coronavirus.

As of Saturday, more than 8.3 million Floridians had voted early or by mail out of 14.4 million total voters statewide.

South Florida is the state’s Democratic stronghold. Biden is certain to win Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, but he’ll need to run up the numbers to win the state and defeat Trump. And Trump is making his own push in Miami-Dade County, and can count on his conservative base elsewhere in the state.

Democratic U. S. Rep. FredericaWilson said she is confident South Florida will deliver for Harris and her running-mate.

“We love her,” Wilson said. “we support her. We’re going to be voting like mad. She is our queen and our hero.”