The oldest Latino civil rights organization in America has just endorsed a presidential ticket for the first time in its 95-year history.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) broke with its practice of not formally supporting any political candidates by announcing its support for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The endorsement comes just two weeks after VP Harris virtually spoke at the LULAC Women's Hall of Fame Luncheon during their national convention on July 28th.
NBC News was the first to report the historic endorsement, which will be further solidified when LULAC leaders join VP Harris and Gov. Walz at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The endorsement was made through LULAC's political action committee (PAC), the LULAC Adelante PAC, according to NBC.
LULAC is a nonprofit with a social welfare arm, and under federal tax law, it can't make political endorsements. The PAC allows for them to legally put their support behind the Democratic ticket.
“We are proud to endorse Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because of the real issues facing Latino communities and all Americans across the nation; we can trust them to do what is right for our community and the country,” Domingo Garcia, chairman of LULAC Adelante PAC and LULAC’s immediate past president, said in a statement.
Not all members of LULAC are Democrats, but Garcia said there was some urgency to create a PAC to stop Donald Trump from ever returning to the White House.
“The politics of hate-mongering and scapegoating Latinos and immigrants must be stopped,” Garcia said in the statement. “Latinos understand how much is at stake in this election, for not only our community but our democracy."