"El voto Latino en Georgia, es un voto de poder," Tim Kaine said. | AP Photo Latino voter offers Kaine a personal endorsement

DULUTH, Ga. — Tim Kaine leaned down to speak to a young Latina here in a hushed voice, nodding seriously as she spoke. The two hugged and she walked away, eyes watery and struggling to gather her thoughts.

"I told him I'm going to vote for him and Hillary," said Monica Navarrete of Lawrenceville, Georgia, in an interview. "So my parents can stay here longer."


The interaction showcased a prime strength that the Virginia senator brought to the ticket: the ability to go a Mexican heritage street fair and greet voters and activists almost entirely in Spanish.

"El voto Latino en Georgia, es un voto de poder," Kaine said of the population bloc's electoral power during a brief speech. He added that their vote could be "la diferencia" in the election.

Clinton has made a significant investment in Georgia's field operation here and has run a limited ad buy as she seeks to put a red state on the map. But Donald Trump has opened up a 4-point lead, according to recent polling averages. And the Senate race here is now out of reach, with Sen. Johnny Isakson opening up such a commanding lead that he may clear a December runoff election by grabbing more than 50 percent of the vote.

Kaine came here to raise money, at the last minute adding a stop at La Fiesta Mexicana, a street festival bathed in sunlight and mariachi music. And the presidential race will have to tighten here further for Latinos to make the difference in November: According to Pew, they make up about 2 percent of registered voters in Georgia, though the number is growing rapidly.

Democrats say they hope this isn't the last time the Clinton campaign makes a stop in the Peach State and in a diverse place like Gwinnett County. They don't think the ticket should give up yet.

State Rep. Pedro Marin, one of the first Latinos elected in the state, insisted that there could be enough voters like Navarrete to make a difference.

"We can be a force to be reckoned with," Marin said in an interview. "Whoever wants to be president has to count on the Latinos."

Kaine tried to do his part, visiting a voter registration booth and lobbying people at the festival one-on-one in Spanish to trust a Clinton administration to work with them. At the urging of hosts of La Raza, a local radio station, he took the stage and microphone to make an impromptu address.

"Mucha gente de Mexico, verdad?" Kaine said, noting the Mexican heritage of many in attendance but emphasizing that all are American. "Pero, todos somos Americanos, verdad?"

He then called out Trump for emphasizing deportation and urged those in the crowd to turn out to vote. But, in making his pitch, Kaine struggled to recall the state's voter registration dates and early voting period.

Luckily, he had Marin in the crowd filling in the blanks, shouting back the correct information.

"It's important to see him, touch him," Marin said of Kaine's visit with people here. "Talk to him, in their own language."