In swing-state Pennsylvania, a Latino-majority city embraces a chance to sway the 2024 election

Religion and politics frequently overlap in Reading, an old industrial city in one of the most pivotal swing states of this year's presidential election.

- LUIS ANDRES HENAO

In Pennsylvania, there is an early precedent for this kind of thing. The state began as a haven for Quakers and other European religious minorities fleeing persecution. That includes the parents of Daniel Boone, the national folk hero born just miles from Reading, a town where the Latino population is now the majority.

Today, the Catholic mayor is also a migrant and the first Latino to hold the office in Reading's 276-year history. Mayor Eddie Moran is keenly aware of the pivotal role Pennsylvania could play in the highstakes race when a few thousand votes in communities like his could decide the future of the United States.

"Right now, with the growing Latino population and the influx of Latinos moving into cities such as Reading, it's definitely an opportunity for the Latino vote to change the outcome of an election," Moran says.

"It's not a secret anymore."

A community of spirituality and Latinos -