STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
In this country, campaign volunteers are going door to door in Nevada, one of the presidential swing states that MORNING EDITION and All Things Considered are reporting from this fall. Our co-host, A Martínez, caught up with canvassers in Las Vegas.
JONATHAN OCAMPOS: So we got to go that way.
A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: This way? OK.
OCAMPOS: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: We met in a residential development in the southern part of the city. As the temperature reached 89 degrees in the shade, the canvassers assured us this was a cool day for Las Vegas. For Jonathan Ocampos, knocking on doors is nothing new.
OCAMPOS: I already have experience. I used to do sales door to door.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, you did? Oh, so you know...
OCAMPOS: Yeah, so...
MARTÍNEZ: ...Exactly what you're doing.
OCAMPOS: ...I already know, yeah. But, I mean, there's nothing hard about it.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
OCAMPOS: You just go talk to people, you know?
WADI GAITAN: Where to next?
OCAMPOS: So we're going to the one on the corner.
MARTÍNEZ: Ocampos is a volunteer canvasser for Libre Initiative action. He was walking with Wadi Gaitan, the group's national spokesman. Libre is a conservative organization that has not endorsed a presidential candidate this election. Instead, Gaitan says they're focused on reaching out to Latinos who may feel disillusioned by the Democratic Party.
GAITAN: I think Hispanics got tired of, yes, what sounded like good promises, but then those promises weren't prioritized. Democrats have lost credibility on the topic of immigration. For so many years, Democrats have been saying there's no crisis at the border. There's nothing going on at the border. It's fine. But in reality, people know, and they see that it's not.
MARTÍNEZ: In Nevada, nearly 1 in 5 registered voters is Latino. They also tend to be younger and aren't affiliated with the Democratic or Republican Party. That's according to the nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
RONNIE NAJARRO: That's actually presented us with a great opportunity since we focus so much on issues.
MARTÍNEZ: Ronnie Najarro was also part of that canvassing group. He's the state director for Americans for Prosperity - the conservative advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers. He sees an opportunity for Latinos to tip the balance of power here in Clark County.
NAJARRO: Voters are actually wanting to hear about issues and really move away from the partisanship that we've seen, which plays right into our overall objective, which is to advance policy.
MARTÍNEZ: More than two-thirds of Nevadans live in Clark County. It's really hard to win Nevada without winning this county. But in order to make your case, voters have to open the door, which didn't happen at any of the houses on the canvassers' list.
UNIDENTIFIED CANVASSER #1: They didn't want to come out, so...
OCAMPOS: They just talk to the eRing (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED CANVASSER #1: I don't like when they use those things.
OCAMPOS: The Ring?
UNIDENTIFIED CANVASSER #1: If I don't see the face, I get - it's just weird for me.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
GAITAN: You can't sell like that?
OCAMPOS: No, you can't. You can't, you know? There's no human-to-human interaction.
MARTÍNEZ: But just as we were getting ready to leave for the day, we spotted a man getting into his car at the other end of the cul-de-sac.
Oh, is he leaving? Is he going to leave?
(CROSSTALK)
CLAIRE MURASHIMA, BYLINE: Got to go. Got to run. Got to run. (Whispering) Go. Go, go, go, go, go.
MARTÍNEZ: Producers Claire Murashima and Chad Campbell sprang into action.
We're with National Public Radio. We're talking to voters in the area.
DARREN SQUIRES: Oh, yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Wonder if you had a few minutes to talk about the election. You do? Oh, great. Great.
Darren Squires is an executive at a law firm in Las Vegas.
SQUIRES: So I've been a Republican my entire life until Donald Trump came around, and now I've registered as an independent. But certainly, under this current environment, I'm going to vote straight Democrat.
MARTÍNEZ: So how do you feel about the election?
SQUIRES: I'm ready for it to be over (laughter). I'm ready just for the whole Trump thing to be over. Like, I feel like he's really turned politics into something that it wasn't 10 years ago, and I personally don't like that.
MARTÍNEZ: Squires also says he's worried whether all Americans will accept the results.
SQUIRES: We should be able to disagree with each other without bullying each other into submission.
MARTÍNEZ: A couple of days later, a few miles north of the Strip, we joined the Culinary Workers Union as they canvassed at an apartment building in downtown Las Vegas. Roman Alejo says most of the voters he's spoken to mention one specific issue.
ROMAN ALEJO: Their major concern is the cost of living. Like, I myself am a renter, and I could identify with many people that are struggling to live day by day.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELEVATOR RATTLING)
MARTÍNEZ: Instead of discussing policy, these canvassers were going floor to floor, focused on getting out the vote for Kamala Harris.
UNIDENTIFIED CANVASSER #2: So we have 434 and 445 (ph).
MARTÍNEZ: Their batting average on getting people to answer their apartment door was better than the conservative group.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOORBELL)
JOVONIE TEJERO: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED CANVASSER #3: Hi. I'm (inaudible) with Unite Here Culinary Union. I'm looking for Jovonie.
TEJERO: Yes, this is me.
MARTÍNEZ: Jovonie Tejero believes Harris is the candidate who can get the cost of living under control.
TEJERO: Before, Las Vegas - it was so easy to get a house here. It used to be so cheap. And now I'm sitting here paying 3K to live in this apartment. That's ridiculous. Like, I'm a teacher. That's my whole paycheck, you guys (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: It's just one of the reasons he says he'll vote for her.
TEJERO: I'm Filipino and Black, and she's Blasian (ph). I'm Blasian. And I know a lot of people don't want to make it about race. And she does a lot of great things that align with my values, but representation is important as well.
MARTÍNEZ: The Culinary Workers Union canvassers were able to mark Tejero down as a yes for Harris - one blue vote in a county of more than two million people - a county that's likely to decide which candidate wins this swing state.
INSKEEP: Senor Martínez from Las Vegas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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