Latino civil rights leader Dolores Huerta on Thursday endorsed Vice President Harris’ presidential bid, adding a powerful progressive voice to her growing base of support.
“I have known Kamala Harris for a long time and have seen firsthand how she works tirelessly on behalf of the Latino community, working families, and all Americans,” Huerta said in a statement.
“Today, I am thrilled to endorse Vice President Harris as the next President of the United States because I know she will be our strongest advocate in the White House.”
Huerta will headline a campaign event for Harris in Phoenix on Thursday along with Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the granddaughter of labor union activist Cesar Chavez and his campaign manager.
Together, Chavez and Huerta founded the United Farm Workers Association, which later merged into the United Farm Workers, the labor union that became the source of the modern Latino civil rights movement.
Huerta’s collaboration with Chavez continued until his death in 1993.
President Biden, who appointed Chavez Rodriguez as his campaign chairman but later dropped out of the race, has a bust of Chavez hanging in the Oval Office.
Huerta has been a vocal supporter of the Biden administration but was an equally vocal opponent of former President Trump.
“For the last three and a half years, Kamala Harris has worked alongside Joe Biden to bring sanity and stability back to our lives. DACA is stronger than ever and health care has never been more affordable. Kamala and Joe have kept families together, controlled everyday expenses, and stood for unions. Under President Harris, we will build on this progress,” Huerta said in a statement.
“But Donald Trump promises a return to chaos and cruelty. After separating children from their parents and trying to end DACA during his presidency, he now campaigns on a platform of separating families and deporting tens of millions of hard-working people.”
Huerta has also been a longtime supporter of Harris.
In 2019, she endorsed Harris’ presidential bid and served as California co-chair for the campaign.
April, HarrisPosted a selfieHe met with Huerta at a White House reception to celebrate the labor leader’s 94th birthday.
Huerta remains politically active, focusing on improving democratic institutions.
“Some things have to change in order to save and preserve our democracy, and it’s not just a United States issue, it’s a global issue. We are the beacon of democracy, so to speak, and if it doesn’t work here, it’s not going to work anywhere else,” she told The Hill in an interview at a September event hosted by the anti-corruption nonprofit Democracy Forward.
At the event, Huerta noted that both of the leading candidates running for president in Mexico at the time were women, and that the next president of the country, where some of Huerta’s ancestors come from, would likely be a woman.
President-elect Claudia Scheinbaum will be sworn in in October and will become North America’s first female head of state.
“I’ve been telling everybody that Mexico will have its first female president. Mexico will beat the United States and have its first female president,” Huerta said at the time, when Biden was running as a near-unbeaten candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“So women, women can make it happen.”
