While admitting to some nervousness about the tightness of the presidential race, Jamaicans in the United States are going all out to help Democratic candidate and Vice-President Kamala Harris across the finish line ahead of Republican Donald Trump.

Many Jamaicans are travelling outside their home state to campaign for Harris in the so-called battleground states where Americans say the election is historically won. These include Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada.

Roy Davidson, head of the Caribbean American Cricket Club of Los Angeles and former head of the National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations, said many people from within the Jamaican and Caribbean communities in California “have been deployed in the states of Georgia and North Carolina to help the Harris campaign”.

Jamaicans have also left from New York and other states to assist the campaign elsewhere. Most notably Pennsylvania, considered as the most crucial state, where get out the vote, knocking on doors, and raising money for Harris have been the main activities.

Stafford Grant, a Pennsylvania-based former member of the Jamaica Defence Force said, “I have no qualms she is going to win. We have the numbers and the votes, the important thing now is for us to execute our ground game with the use of technology to help her achieve victory.”

Grant is among a number of Jamaicans and Caribbean nationals who formed Caribbean American United in Support of Harris, who is of Jamaican heritage, soon after she became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president in July this year.

He said that although it was a tough race in Pennsylvania, “the contest here is very close, but with the level of the ground work that is being undertaken, there is a strong feeling she will prevail”.

“There is even evidence that some Republican-leaning voters are leaning towards and have already voted for her, as early voting has started in the state,” he said. “The enthusiasm remains high and I am confident that the vice-president is going to win, though I do acknowledge that it is real tight, and is getting tougher.

“However, we [Jamaicans] are pulling out all the stops. The emphasis now is getting out the votes and we are working hard in this regard,” said Grant.

Joan Edghill who hosts a weekly programme on CRR FM radio in Florida said that while she “is a little nervous, the enthusiasm among Democrats seems to be even higher now as we get closer to the November 5 election”.

She said other Jamaicans and herself “have been encouraging large scale mail-in and early voting and are using technology to reach people to get to the polls. A lot of emphasis is also being placed on younger first-time voters to help them understand what is at stake”.

Edghill noted, too, that some among the Jamaican community are showing a preference for Donald Trump, but that even then the enthusiasm towards this election and for getting the vice-president elected “is more than has been shown in the recent past”.

A handful of Jamaicans who the Jamaica Observer identified as Republicans declined to comment.

In Florida, retired real estate broker Juliet Mattadeen is among those who remain optimistic that Harris will win, saying, “She is working hard and I think her policies are resonating with the voters.”

Former officer with the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Clarence Brown said he believes Harris has performed and continues to perform well and thinks that she can win.

He worries, though, that she is being affected by too much sexism, classism, and even racism, a concern he had expressed shortly before she was formally nominated as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer.

Covington resident and former educator Hyacinth Davis said she continues to see a high level of support for Vice-President Harris within the African and other ethnic communities here. “There is also an increase intensity in early voting and an engagement at all levels; such as on the streets and in grocery stores,” she added.

While acknowledging that there were some unfavourable issues facing the vice-president, such as less than full support among black males, Davis said she still remains confident of a Harris victory.

Retired Adjunct Professor Raymond Rhoden told the Observer that while he is “cautiously nervous”, he thinks Harris will defeat Trump. “She has shown that she is capable of leading the country and I think she has put forward a series of policy initiatives that will benefit all Americans,” he argued.

Sadie Campbell, the long-standing president of the Jamaica Progressive League (JPL), is among those who are cautiously optimistic of a win by Harris, though she, too, has expressed some level of nervousness, causing her to not “watch the TV news and the polls too much”.

Patrick Williams who heads the Jamaica Awareness Association of California noted that “there is a strong possibility she will pull [it] off as hope remains strong amid a strong level of enthusiasm”.

He said the Jamaican and Caribbean communities on the West Coast are very active. Two New York-based Jamaican residents — former Jamaica Constabulary Force member Dwight P Bailey and a secretary, Carlene McIntosh — have both expressed confidence that Harris will prevail in the election.