Republican nominee Donald Trump had a narrow lead over his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, on Tuesday, a week before the US presidential election. They are making similar appeals to a group they believe will help them win battleground states in the west.
Hispanic voters could decide the outcome in Nevada. They make up 22 percent of the electorate in the state. Many work in service industries and earn much of their income through tips.
Trump says one of his policies would help them bring home more. “We’ll pass larger tax cuts for workers,” he said at a rally last month in Las Vegas. “And we have a special tax that, here, is going to do quite well. It’s called ‘No Tax on Tips.'”
Luis Islas works at a restaurant and believes he could increase his income by hundreds of dollars a month. “Everyone lives on tips,” he said. He said it would be “awesome” to see the proposal come to pass.
Harris introduced a similar promise on tips and another to increase workers’ base income. “We’ll continue our fight for working families of America including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for services and hospitality workers,” she said at a rally in August.
Harris has attracted the support of union members. “Trump has said no taxes on tips, but that’s not enough,” said Ted Pappageorge of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226. He suggested the minimum wage should be raised for all workers.
Hispanics have tended to vote for the Democrats. But polls suggest Trump has brought more of them onto the Republican side. Political news site RealClearPolitics reports that, as of Monday, an average of national polls suggested Trump led Harris by 0.2 percentage points.