Kamala Harris Ramps Up Support For Biden In Miami

Polls show the race tightening in Florida, where Trump’s strengths are among men and white and Cuban voters. But for Biden and Harris, a winning formula involves bringing together an array of communities with different priorities and viewpoints

- David Smiley, Alex Daugherty and Erin Doherty

During her first visit to Miami as Joe Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris sought out a diverse group of voters who haven’t seen the Democratic ticket in the state for nearly a year.

With less than eight weeks to go until the Nov. 3 election, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, flew into Miami International Airport on Thursday and then fanned out across the county, meeting with Black voters, college students, Jewish and Latino voters in a six-hour span. Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, will return Tuesday to the battleground state.

Polls show the race tightening in Florida, where President Donald Trump’s strengths are among men and white and Cuban voters. But for Biden and Harris, a winning formula is more complicated, and involves bringing together an array of communities with different priorities and viewpoints.

Harris, a Black US senator from California, began her trip to Miami-Dade County with an unannounced stop in Doral, home to Miami’s largest concentration of Venezuelans. Then she headed to Miami Gardens, Florida’s largest majority-Black city, to speak with college students and community leaders. At the same time, Harris’ husband, who is Jewish, was in Aventura meeting with rabbis and Jewish politicians.

“This was really important. A great step,” said Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo after greeting Harris during an unannounced visit to Amaize, a fast-casual Venezuelan restaurant located in a strip mall not far from Trump’s Doral resort. “I love the fact that it was more South American, and not more of the traditional 305 stops,” a reference to Miami’s 305 area code.