On a scorching hot day in Las Vegas, George Escarero was on a water break from knocking on doors in one of the citys sprawling gated communities.The gay, longtime banquet server at the Mirage, whose first language is Spanish, estimated the temperature at 105 but said, Thats how we go, just walk and walk and walk and sweat and drink water, and if they cuss us out, kind of ignore it. Were just there to open up, you know, so people can open up their eyes and just see it. Related Michigans pro-equality progress hangs in the balance. Will voters preserve the wins or turn back the clock? In Michigan, it really does feel like democracy is on the line, says Progress Michigans Denzel McCampbell. Escarero is one of an army of canvassers deployed by the Culinary Workers Union in Nevada and was adamant that its time for a big change. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Instead of taking stuff away and making the rich richer, Escarero shared from his pitch, Kamala is there to help out, and she knows what were going through because she was one of us.Kamala Harris was middle class, like all of us, he said. She was a hard worker, started from the bottom, worked her way up. They cannot, like, say, Well, you know what, Kamala, you got juiced in. No, she worked from the bottom.Escarero said his experience meeting with voters was probably like 50% are really nice, and 50% the ones who cuss him out.Culinary Union George Escarero, banquet server at The Mirage, canvasses on a hot summer day in Las Vegas. | Culinary Union Those numbers track with election polls in Nevada, which show an electorate evenly divided between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump supporters in a swing state that could determine the outcome of a dead-heat presidential election.Nevadans have an unpredictable history at the polls. Out of the last 12 national elections, the state split six to six voting for a Democratic or Republican presidential candidate, while the margin for Democrats has narrowed in every election since Obama won in 2008. President Joe Biden carried the state by just 2 points in 2020. Share your opinion View the article on LGBTQ Nation to participate in our reader poll. While Democrats hold majorities in the State House and Senate, Nevadans chose conservative Republican Joe Lombardo for governor over Democratic incumbent Sisolak in 2022. However, U.S. Sen. Jackie Rosen, a Democrat running for her second term this year, holds a narrow lead over Trump-endorsed Republican Sam Brown.Adding to the voter volatility: an electorate where unaffiliated voters outnumber both Democrats and Republicans in the state.In 2018, Nevada voters approved a new Automatic Voter Registration system, mandating the Department of Motor Vehicles register new voters or those with lapsed party registration as unaffiliated unless they opt out or choose a party.AVR created 142,484 new Nevada voters in 2020; less than a third chose to call themselves Democrats or Republicans.Its a new, mostly young pool of voters open to persuasion and put off by the status quo, said Nevada state Rep. Cecelia Gonzlez (D), who identifies as queer and bisexual and is running for a second term in the Nevada Assembly.Younger voters and people of color really feel alienated by this two-party system, and they really connect with candidates that meet voters on a more personal level, right? she said. The shift reflects a growing frustration with traditional party politics and a desire for candidates who speak to the real issues, and not just these partisan talking points.The 32-year-old, of Mexican and Thai descent, says she feels the same frustrations. Because Im younger, thats where I focus on to try to get out the vote.Cecelia Gonzlez Nevada State Rep. Cecelia Gonzlez (D) speaks with a student in her district in Las Vegas | Cecelia Gonzlez 18 to 34 year olds make up a whopping 30% of registered voters in Nevada and are the largest block after those over 55, who are historically less persuadable but more inclined to vote than their younger peers. Less than half of the youngest cohort claim Democratic or Republican party allegiance.While shes running as a Democrat, Gonzlez says she knows where those voters are coming from when they meet on the campaign trail.They identify with me not just because Im a woman, not just because Im Mexican or Latino or Asian. Its the fact that I resonate with these lived experiences because I come from the same backgrounds.Young people, Latinos, and Asian communities are really whats going to get the vice president and Walz across the finish line, she said.As for canvassing the day we spoke, Gonzlez said door-knocking was off the table.Its so hot. Its literally 114 today, she gasped. Even before the large influx of unaffiliated voters, party loyalty was on the decline in Nevada. The states libertarian live and let live ethos has further blurred the distinction between Democrats and Republicans.Thats reflected in some of the most progressive LGBTQ+ policies and legislation in the country, and its one reason the Human Rights Campaign, the countrys largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, is targeting equality voters in Nevada, hoping to appeal to Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters alike in their swing state efforts to get voters to the polls.But no constituency is a monolith, including the fast-growing Latino population, whose rapid growth has helped transform Nevada into a majority-minority swing state. The minority share of the population in Nevada rose to just over 54% with the last U.S. Census. Meanwhile, the percentage of the non-Hispanic white population in the state continues its historical decline, dropping from over 83% in 1980 to just 46.4% in 2022.Those facts havent translated, however, to guaranteed loyalty to Democrats, who in years past as defenders of civil rights and the working class could count on Latino voters. Their once-uniform support has narrowed and fractured.Biden carried all Latino voters in Nevada 61% to 35% over Trump in 2020, while Harris leads 56% to 40% in 2024, a 5% drop. The shift is even greater among young Latino men in Nevada: 53% of male Latino voters ages 18 to 34 support Trump while just 40% support Harris. Similar numbers among Latino men ages 35 to 49 add up to a major deficit in a key constituency that could tip the election.Its why getting face-to-face with those voters before Election Day is the number one priority for both Gonzlez and George Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Union and lead organizer of what he proudly calls the largest walk program in the state of Nevada.They come and work for the union, Pappageorge said of the hundreds of canvassers on leave of absence from their day and night jobs, including guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, and laundry and kitchen workers from the unions membership. They work six days a week. They have Friday off and theyre out in the heat, getting chased by dogs and knocking on doors to turn out the vote, he said.The Culinary Union and its affiliates represent more than 60,000 workers in the state, with members from 178 countries. Estimates put the number of LGBTQ+ hospitality workers at one in five, and the union is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state, with coverage provided for more than 145,000 Nevadans.Who is elected in any election locally, statewide, or nationally has a direct bearing on the unions ability to thrive, or survive.A second Trump administration, Pappageorge said, would be a threat to our existence.This is a guy that jokes with his billionaire buddies about firing striking workers, who brags about crossing picket lines and really has a lot of promises, a lot of promises. But the problem with Trump is that he lies, and he lies a lot.Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Union, speaks with a fellow member at a get-out-the-vote meeting in Las Vegas. Look, if the election was today, we think Trump would win, Pappageorge said, but the election is not today, and our job is to make sure that here in Las Vegas we are contesting every single vote. Were knocking on every single door. Were talking to every single person in that household, to union members and their family members, and were driving the votes.When you have those kinds of conversations with voters, Pappageorge said, you have an opportunity to drive votes and persuade folks. And we think these votes are winnable.But weve got to do the work, he added. Its going to be extremely close.Escarero, the banquet worker, agreed, sharing, I even get goosebumps. But I feel, even though its going to be a tight, I know shes going to win.Asked what Harris pledge to fight for the freedom to love who you love meant to him, the longtime union member paused and asked, To me?Then he started to cry.I was living the life that it wasnt, Escarero said through tears. I had to fake I had to fake who I was, and now we have a freedom. Now we can get married. No discrimination. Do the military.Thats why I get very emotional, because I had a tough life, because I had to act like somebody that I wasnt. You know what I mean? With people cursing and dogs chasing him, Escarero shared what kept him going through the hot days canvassing.He remembered a knock not too long ago when he asked a middle-aged white woman, If you dont mind, I said, What side are you on? I said, Do you have a plan? Are you on the Trump side or?Oh no, no, no, no, honey,' she interrupted, pointing to a small Harris-Walz sign in her car. You see my sign out there in the window? She goes, Give me a big one and Ill put it in the front yard.Lets fight for our rights, Escarero said, before heading back out into the heat.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.