If you want to see the real Las Vegas, you need to leave the glitz of the casino strip and head to the city’s northern suburbs.
For decades, the Broadacres flea market has been a hub for the Hispanic community.
Locals say it’s like taking a trip to Mexico, without having to cross the border.
On a Sunday afternoon, thousands watch a band perform upbeat Latin music in front of a packed dance floor.
Others browse the market stalls, where traders sell everything from gardening gloves to Christmas decorations.
Here, we meet Art Cacho, 30, who jokingly describes himself as “that Mexican guy in a Tupac shirt”.
Art Cacho says he and others are chasing the American dream under Donald Trump. Source: SBS News / Ben Lewis
Cacho is young, male, Latino — and not shy to say who he’s voting for.
“The one and only Trump,” he says.
“When I was 22, I bought my first house. I was making incredible money, my family was making incredible money, people here at the flea market were making incredible money, the economy was great.
“When Trump was in office, everybody had the American dream and people still want to have the American dream.”
In the 2020 United States presidential election, Joe Biden won the Latino vote in Nevada, 61 to 35 per cent, according to CNN exit polls.
Recent polls suggest vice president and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris holds a much slimmer lead among the demographic. According to the USA Today/Suffolk University’s October poll, Harris leads Trump around 56 to 40 per cent in Nevada.
According to the survey, Harris is having particular trouble reaching younger Latino men. The survey found that 53 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 support Trump, the Republican candidate, while 40 per cent support Harris.
Cacho thinks he knows why: the former president isn’t afraid to say what he thinks — even if it causes offence. He says this is a response to cancel culture and political correctness.
“I think a lot of young men see it’s okay to be out loud about your thoughts, there’s nothing wrong with it,” he says.
“Men being men, everyone wants to be a man, you know.”
I ask him if some of Trump’s language — such as — bothers him.
“No. We’re all adults, you know what I mean? We’re not always right, but we’re not always wrong, either. If he got that sh-t wrong, he got that sh-t wrong.”
Trump, in recent weeks, has amplified a false claim that has gone viral that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing residents’ pets or taking wildlife from parks for food.
There have been no credible reports of Haitians eating pets, and officials in Ohio — including Republicans — have repeatedly said the story is untrue.
Last week, , telling Latino voters during a town hall event that he was “just saying what was reported”.
Trump isn’t just gaining support among younger Latino men.
Javier Barajas crossed the border from Mexico more than 40 years ago.
He began working in kitchens as a dishwasher, then as a chef. Now, he owns five restaurants.
Trump came to visit one of them recently — which caused a stir. Some Latino community leaders called for a boycott of his restaurants.
Javier Barajas began working in kitchens and now owns five restaurants. Source: SBS News / Ben Lewis
Barajas was once an undocumented migrant, a group the former president has targeted repeatedly on the campaign trail with increasingly inflammatory language.
But the restaurateur believes much of that talk is empty rhetoric.
“I know the language that he uses is not right sometimes, but he told me that he knows what this country needs,” Barajas says.
“This country needs immigrants to work. This country cannot be run without immigrants, he knows that.
“I really wish everybody who wants to get a better life in this country is welcome.
“But lately, a lot of people come to this country not to work, just to have an easy life.”
‘This is what it takes to win in Nevada’
Democrats aren’t willing to give up on Latino men.
The party has the support of Nevada’s powerful culinary union, which represents dishwashers, waiters and housekeepers in Las Vegas hotels.
Union members will knock on more than 900,000 doors before election day.
“This is what it takes to win in Nevada,” Ted Pappageorge, the union secretary, says.
“Nevada is not a blue state, it’s barely a purple state. We’ve got a third Democrat, a third Republican and a third independent registrations, and so the way we win is by this: workers out talking to workers on the doors.”
Fabiola Zavala is hitting the pavement in the Vegas suburbs, using an app to see which doors need to be knocked on.
She has taken leave without pay to campaign.
Fabiola Zavala (left) and Maria Macias (right) are door-knocking before election day in the Vegas suburbs. Source: SBS News / Ben Lewis
Zavala’s message to male Latino voters? Think about the impact Republican-backed abortion laws could have on their families.
“You have to think about your daughters, you have to think about your wife, your sisters,” she says.
“God forbid anything were to happen, you vote the wrong way, and your woman’s rights were taken away, that affects you as a man.”
While the Trump campaign is largely relying on digital media and podcast appearances to connect with young male voters, Democrats hope old-fashioned canvassing will prove more effective.
“You connect with the voter,” Zavala says.
“You’re telling your story, but most importantly, you’re hearing their story. If I’m part of the reason why you voted the way you did, then it makes every sacrifice I’m making worth it.”
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