LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Most days you can find Migdalia Davila in the kitchen or behind the counter of Rika Arepa Express.
“You have it in your blood, this culture, this tradition that we have,” Davila said.
Located on Flamingo near Pecos Roads, Rika Arepa opened seven years ago. Its menu highlights the arepa, a special dish for Venezuelans. She began selling arepas in 2015 at farmer markets in Clark County.
Venezuela and its socialist government have been in the news lately for its collapsing economy and disputed presidential elections.
“Terrible, terrible. Venezuelans, we don’t deserve what is happening,” Davila said.
She told 8 News Now she brought her family to the United States in 2005.
“The American dream is about the freedom to choose and I think that’s the scariest part about what’s going on in Venezuela,” her son Miguel said.
Miguel has graduated from some of the top universities in this country and built a professional career for himself. He has a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
One of the choices that is dear to the Davila family is voting.
Both presidential candidates are vying for courting Latino voters, especially in southern Nevada.
“For Latinos, the cost of housing is a big problem and I don’t think that there are enough proposals,” Miguel said. “I would love to see both candidates address how are they going to lower the cost of housing.”
Donald Trump campaigned at a Las Vegas Mexican restaurant in August. Both Joe Biden, before he dropped out of the race, and Kamala Harris have campaigned in Las Vegas Hispanic neighborhoods over the last three months.
Recent polling from an 8 News Now/Emerson College poll shows that 62% of Latinos say they plan to vote for Harris in November, while 38% say they’ll vote for Trump.
That’s an increase for Trump. Of those same Latinos polled, 59% said they voted for Biden in 2020, while 31% voted for Trump.
“The things that really matter. Education, health care, a roof over our head, and food,” Jani Spadora said.
Spadora knows what she’s looking for in a candidate. She owns a real estate business in the southwest Las Vegas valley.
Her views on government and her life story are best viewed through the lens of her childhood in Cuba.
“Both my parents had what you would consider in this country to be decent jobs, right? Like if you technically have those types of jobs in this country, you can at least have dinner and that wasn’t the case,” Spadora said.
Spadora arrived in the US with her mother as a teen, escaping a communist government. They flew from Cuba to Nicaragua and then trekked up through Central America, where they caught a flight from El Salvador to Miami.
Spadora arrived at a time when the US policy towards Cubans was that if they landed here, they were allowed to pursue residency within a year.
“At least mine had a happy ending,” Spadora said reflecting on her migration. “Like, you have so many stories of others that come here or have come here through the jungle now recently. And it’s just tough, you know?”
“That’s why I tell people. You get here, you make the best of it because it’s hard to get here. Work your a** off,” Spadora added.
When it comes to November, Spadora said she’s unsure who will get her vote.
“At the end of the day, the people behind both sides are the same people. They give you the illusion, it’s the illusion of choice,” Spadora said.
Nevada is a battleground state and the battle to court Latino voters among both parties will only ramp up.
The business owners 8 News Now profiled said they want the candidates to stick to the issues: housing, economy, and education.
Election day is on Tuesday, November 5.
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