Democrats are concerned about Vice President Kamala Harris' ground game in Pennsylvania, considered the pivotal battleground state in the 2024 presidential election, Politico reported.
Complaints include Harris aides lacking relationship with key party figures and that surrogates haven't been deployed properly, Politico said. Nikki Lu, Harris' Pennsylvania campaign manager, lacks a deep knowledge of Philadelphia, where Harris must run up the score to win the state, some Democrats told Politico.
Democrats have brought on additional staff to the state, but some told Politico they are running out of time and are worried the campaign has not done enough to reach Black and Latino voters.
"I feel like we're going to win here, but we're going to win it in spite of the Harris state campaign," a Democratic elected official in the state told Politico. "Pennsylvania is such a mess, and it's incredibly frustrating."
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris' campaign manager, pushed back, telling Politico the campaign has a better ground game than that of former President Donald Trump and that Harris is actively campaigning in the state.
"Our campaign is running the largest and most sophisticated operation in Pennsylvania history," Chavez Rodriguez said. "We invested in targeted advertising to Black and Latino voters starting in August of 2023, and we have now spent more than any previous presidential campaign on outreach to these communities. We are leaving no stone unturned."
The Trump campaign told Politico it has more than two dozen offices in the state, with offices focused on Latino outreach in Reading and with Black voters in Philadelphia.
Democrats have accused Lu as being "AWOL" and empowering a culture that has left people feeling unengaged and disrespected, according to Politico. Democrats told Politico they would like to see funds used to support grassroots organizations targeting Asian and Latino voters.
Recently, Paulette Aniskoff, who served as former President Barack Obama's 2008 field director in Pennsylvania, has joined the campaign in a move Pennsylvania Democrats saw as diminishing Lu's role, Politico reported.
Mariel Joy Korblith Martin, the Harris campaign's former Latino coalition manager in Pennsylvania, left after two weeks, claiming in a memo obtained by Politico she was provided with "no access to necessary data on Latino demographics" and "no infrastructure to plan events or engage the Latino community."
"Please give us the tools to win," wrote Martin. "For as we all know, you do not win PA without Latinos, and you do not win the presidency without PA."
The Harris campaign said it has 50 staffers dedicated to engagement in majority-Black areas in the state and 30 for the job in majority-Latino regions.
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