The vice president is part of the administration that has supported Puerto Rico the most.
Johanna López, representative for District 43 in the Florida House of Representatives, believes President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race and endorse Kamala Harris brings hope to the Latino community.
Seeing Harris’ performance as vice president, López thinks she is a good Democratic candidate to face Donald Trump in the upcoming elections.
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“That President Biden himself recommends her, supports her, endorses her, for me it was a very shocking moment, and I felt very happy,” López told Floricua.
A native of Aguadilla, López (who is a teacher by profession), has belonged to the Florida House of Representatives for the past two years, facing the conservative measures of her Republican counterparts.
She has tried to prevent more abortion restrictions, reduce gun violence, and she has fought against banning books in schools that reflect the country’s cultural diversity.
“Now I also feel hope that this can really generate not only a national mobilization, but also many changes in different positions with our elected officials,” said López, who was the first Puerto Rican and Latina to serve on Orange County’s school board.
Harris, who was born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, visited Puerto Rico in March. The vice president is part of the administration that has supported Puerto Rico the most, since Biden has given parity to Puerto Ricans in several federal programs and released billions of dollars for the island’s reconstruction after Hurricane Maria—federal funds that were withheld by Trump.
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Rep. López also hopes that Harris will be a good ally of the Latino community in the US.
“We deserve a candidate like Kamala Harris, who represents us, who we can see ourselves projected in. And she is truly a person who will support us. A person who is opposed to President Trump, who has criticized us. A person who does not represent the values of the Latino community, as candidate Kamala Harris would do,” López said.
