How the most Latino neighborhood in Nevada foreshadows a big 2024 fight

NORTH LAS VEGAS — In the heart of the most Latino ZIP code in Nevada, shoppers at the sprawling Broadacres flea market mill around every weekend drinking micheladas and listening to live norteñamusic.

Soon, they will be at the center of an expansive battle over Latino voters in 2024 — with potentially more wavering voters up for grabs than ever before and the results of the presidential election on the line.

Historically, Latino voters — including different Hispanic communities motivated by different factors in different parts of the country, from Puerto Ricans in New York to Cuban Americans in Florida to Mexican Americans in the Southwest — have supported Democrats over Republicans in presidential elections by a comfortable margin. With some fluctuation, roughly two-thirds of Hispanic voters have broken for the Democratic candidate in the last several election cycles, with one-third going for the Republican.

While it’s too early to tell if this election will change that, there are signs of a potentially significant shift: According to the latest NBC News poll, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are in a dead heat with Latino voters, with Trump at 42% and Biden at 41% (well within the poll’s margin of error and with a number of respondents undecided). Other surveys have also shown close splits. And while some experts caution against overstating the shift and note the large number of undecided Latinos in surveys like these, advocates from both parties see a more active and fluid fight for Latino support coming up in 2024.

In a swing state like Nevada, where Latinos make up 20% of the electorate, movement among Latino voters could wind up deciding the presidential election in November. And the view from