ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
In the final days of the campaign season, both major party candidates visited Reading, Pennsylvania, which is home to a large Latino population. Carmen Russell-Sluchansky of member station WHYY returned to Reading to check in with voters about what they hope to see in the next Trump administration.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: (Inaud***).
CARMEN RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY, BYLINE: Joseph Nunez is tired but elated. He talks about coming down from an adrenaline rush after the election. This is the first time he's had a weekend to enjoy with his kids after spending most of his free time campaigning for Donald Trump.
JOSEPH NUNEZ: Are you happy to see me today? Did you miss Daddy while he was working?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes.
NUNEZ: Yes. A little or a lot?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: A lot.
NUNEZ: How much is a lot? Not enough to divert their attention from "Paw Patrol."
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Nunez is sitting in his mobile office, an executive coach that he used to take other volunteers to canvas Latino neighborhoods around Reading. His girls are watching TV.
NUNEZ: I feel like a winner. I feel like we won the Olympics. Like, we finally got a gold medal. Like, this is actually not just a fairy tale. This actually really happened.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Nunez, who is Dominican American, takes some credit for a high turnout among Latino voters towards Donald Trump this year. Some would call it blame. He says he has lost friends, and even some family won't talk to him now. However, he adds that it was worth it. Reading is more than 70% Latino. Donald Trump won 36% of the vote here in 2020. This year he won nearly 54% of the vote after he visited twice. Kelvin Rodriguez owns a used car lot nearby and voted for Trump. He says he wants to see lower taxes on his business, but the Catholic is particularly concerned about the role gender identity has played in this election. He doesn't like what he says his preteen children are exposed to in school.
KELVIN RODRIGUEZ: We need to keep it how it is - you know, men's and women's and not different stuff like that. You know, I don't want to get into it because everybody, you know, think different and - but I think we've got to follow what God said. You know what I mean?
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Rodriguez, who grew up in Puerto Rico, says he wasn't bothered by what Trump has had to say about Hispanics in the country.
RODRIGUEZ: He's a strong guy. I don't know. His attitude, like, how he is and - you know, he say what he got to say, and he don't mind what people think about it. And I love that. You know, he say what he got to say, you know? That's why I like him.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: It's lunchtime in the Old San Juan Cafe here in Reading. This is where Kamala Harris made a surprise visit just the day before the election. Kelery Ortiz Rivera was there behind the counter.
KELERY ORTIZ RIVERA: I feel a little bit nervous and excited, and I meet her. Yeah.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: She now expresses disappointment by the outcome of the election.
ORTIZ RIVERA: (Through interpreter) I feel a little confused and sad because I know that a lot of people supported Kamala, and it did not happen. Her win did not happen.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Ortiz Rivera, who was originally from Puerto Rico, was excited to vote for the first woman president, and she says she is now concerned about her young son's future.
ORTIZ RIVERA: (Speaking Spanish). I have a son.
(Through interpreter) I have a son, and I would like for him to be raised in a better society, with a better economy and better rights.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Walking around this neighborhood finds dozens of Harris-Walz signs strewn about, as well as Democrats who are reticent to talk about last week's results. However, down the road at Encanto Bakery and Grocery, Kevin Luna is willing to talk about his surprise.
KEVIN LUNA: I can't believe that a convicted felon like Donald Trump actually got reelected.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: However, Luna says he expects Trump will get the economy back on track.
LUNA: The only thing I don't like about him is the immigration part of it that he believes in. That's the only part I don't like about him. And then I voted for Kamala this time because I wanted someone different, and I wanted to see a woman running to see what happens.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: According to exit polling, Trump saw more than a 10-point increase among Latino voters nationally. For NPR News, I'm Carmen Russell-Sluchansky in Reading, Pennsylvania. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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