NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — On the eve of the election, amid a bitter chill, Marisela Olvera, a member of the Culinary Workers Union, rapped on doors in North Las Vegas to make her pitch.
The 12-year employee of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas was trying to get out the vote — not for her employer, former President Trump, but for his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Kamala Harris has risen from the bottom and has achieved everything she has achieved, being a prosecutor, being vice president, and now perhaps the future president,” said Olvera, 52. “I don’t want to miss out on being part of this history. And I want my children to see that it doesn’t matter if you are humble, it doesn’t matter where you come from, the important thing is that you were born in a privileged country, like the United States, where by working and fighting you can achieve whatever you want.”
Olvera emigrated from the Mexican state of Guanajuato when she was 14, joining her parents in Salinas, where her father was a bracero. She moved to Las Vegas in 2010 with her two sons, and was hired at the Trump hotel two years later.
Now, despite being unable to vote herself, she is part of an expansive ground operation led by her union to drive up turnout for Harris in Nevada, a swing state that — depending on how things go elsewhere — could determine the election.
Polling has showed the race in a dead heat in Nevada, but also in six other swing states. Both campaigns have been trying to finish strong with turnout operations and door knocking right up until the polls close.
Olvera was out canvassing on Monday night, along with Beatriz Oceguera, 47, who works as a guest room attendant at the Wynn and believes Harris — and her policies to expand affordable housing and help first-time home buyers — will help her secure a more financially stable life for her and her four kids.
“I believe Kamala Harris has a plan,” Oceguera said, her hair pulled back in a bun.
Olvera was back out to canvas more on Tuesday — to continue doing the work she’s been doing since September.
Olvera got her start as a housekeeper and early on made around $13.25 an hour. She recalled making less than $800 over a two-week period, which she put toward bills, rent, food and healthcare. She had to get another job cleaning offices at night, and on days off she cleaned houses.
“There was no union back then,” she said. “The work was really, really heavy.”
Olvera fought to unionize Trump’s hotel, with that campaign launching in mid-2015, around the time Trump announced his first candidacy for president.
“He said he wanted to make America great. We told him it needed to start at home with his workers,” Olvera recalled. They secured their first union contract in 2016.
Olvera has since moved up the ranks at the hotel to housekeeping inspector, a role in which she oversees the work of a team of around 45 housekeepers. In September, she took a leave of absence, which is allowed in her union contract, to help campaign for Harris.
Olvera stressed that she’s “really happy” to work at the hotel.
“I have overcome a lot there, but I have also overcome a lot thanks to having a union that’s always supported us,” she said. She added that she was grateful that in this country, there’s “freedom of expression.”
Olvera said she won’t talk badly about her employer, but did acknowledge what she saw as differences between the candidates. She said Harris has a plan for the economy and for the working class.
“If we’re being honest, Republicans are thinking about the people who make more money,” she said.
“I’m worried about the economy, healthcare. I’m worried about people who don’t have the same benefits I do through the union.”
Olvera’s sons, now 33 and 30, asked if she was scared to be campaigning against her employer.
“I told them, ‘No,’” she said. “They were worried, but they know that their mom has never been afraid. Nothing is achieved with fear.”
“If Kamala wins, her triumph is our triumph,” Olvera said. “And if not, we have the satisfaction that we gave it our all.”
Times staff writer Kevin Rector contributed to this report.