With the US presidential election just weeks away, Kamala Harris is ramping up her efforts to woo black and Latino voters. Although she has a clear lead among both groups, some Democrats have warned that she needs to do more to motivate those voters to turn out for her in November.

This is partly due to recent polls suggesting that Harris' Republican rival Donald Trump is succeeding in winning over Black and Latino voters, a continuation of his successes in 2016 and 2020.

A New York Times-Siena poll found Harris had 78% support among black voters, compared with around 90% support for Democrats in recent elections, with men accounting for the largest decline.

This could prove crucial in a race that is expected to be decided by a razor-thin margin. And even if this poll gets it wrong, modest gains among black or Latino voters in key battleground states could ultimately influence the outcome.

In Arizona, for example, almost one in four voters on November 5th is expected to be Latino, and in nearby Nevada it is almost 20%. In another key state, Georgia, black voters make up about 30% of all voters.

So what might account for Trump's apparent gains with these voters?

The economy, particularly inflation and the cost of living, is the top issue for the majority of voters.

This is the case for many black and Latino voters, with the New York Times pointing out that significant majorities of both groups are dissatisfied with the current state of the American economy.

Among them is Quenton Jordan, a 30-year-old Virginia resident who once voted for Barack Obama but has voted for Trump since first entering the national political stage in 2016.

“Inflation has made it next to impossible or extremely challenging for people to provide their families with basic needs,” Jordan said.

“It's tangible things like that that make people say they don't like the pressure I'm experiencing from the cost of goods. That makes it more difficult for me,” he added.

Across notoriously “purple” Nevada, where there is a large Latino population, Las Vegas resident Lydia Dominguez said many Latinos “remember the economy under Trump,” adding that economic concerns mean that ” “There is no longer any stigma” to support Trump President.

“They can’t afford to live. That’s a really big part of it,” she told the BBC. “It is no longer taboo to support him.”

Even some Harris-leaning voters admit that pocketbook issues have helped move voters to the right in their communities.

“There are a lot of people in my community who are transitioning. A lot of people will vote for Trump just for economic reasons,” said Diego Arancivia, a former Republican voter in Nevada who is now voting for Harris.

“They would never want to have a beer with him, but they believe he has the means to support them financially.”

Like the broader U.S. electorate, both Black and Latino voters have expressed concerns about immigration and the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Strict border controls and a commitment to deport millions of illegal migrants are a central part of the Trump campaign.

The campaign has also found a receptive audience among some Black and Latino voters who say they find the border chaotic and dangerous under the Biden administration, and by extension Harris.

Rolando Rodriguez, a Trump supporter and former Democrat from Texas, said the everyday reality of record migrant crossings in recent years weighs heavily on some voters, even though those numbers have fallen this year.

“I live so close to the border and have never experienced a disaster like the one under Kamala and Biden,” he said.

Similarly, Mr. Jordan — the black voter in Virginia — said he believes asylum seekers and other aliens are “taking up resources that the black community has been asking for for decades.”

Trump addressed this directly on Monday, citing an “invasion” of undocumented immigrants that is having a “tremendous negative impact” on Black and Latino communities.

Political science professor Quardricos Driskell said black male voters in particular have turned away from what some see as a Democratic “embrace” of social issues that conflict with their own views.

“There is a sense that there has been an attack on masculinity and what that means,” he said. “I think that’s what some black male voters are railing against.”

“It’s not necessarily the fault of the party itself,” he added. “It’s more about the voters within the party and the chatter around human sexuality and gender.”

Mr. Driskell's assessment was echoed by 49-year-old black South Carolina voter Clarence Pauling.

Mr. Pauling, a hair salon owner and former police officer, said the Republican Party's views are more in line with his own religious values ​​on gender and sexuality.

“You can’t create your own agenda,” he said of Democrats. “(If) you want to lead an entire country, you have to lead it on the right path.”

As Trump courted black and Latino voters at a town hall event in Pennsylvania on Monday, Harris stepped up her own efforts by releasing a list of policy proposals that her campaign called a “black male opportunity agenda.”

She will also meet with Black business owners in cities in key swing states this week and speak with popular Black media figures, including radio host Charlamagne Tha God, at an event in Detroit.

Trump, meanwhile, directly referenced the latest polls. “Our poll numbers are through the roof with black and Hispanic voters,” he said. “And I like that.”