Beyonce's Harris rally tests superstar's political reach

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Beyonce's expected appearance with Kamala Harris at a rally in Houston on Friday night, the superstar performer's first public political appearance this election cycle, comes at a crucial time for the Democratic presidential candidate. 

Harris' summertime lead over Republican opponent Donald Trump has all but evaporated, national opinion polls show, and she is within the margin of error in the battleground states, her campaign says. 

But she has picked up a considerable advantage over Trump with women, who most polls and surveys show make up much of Beyonce's audience. Harris led Trump by 49% to 36%, or 13 percentage points, among women voters in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published late in August. The election will be held on Nov. 5. 

"Beyonce is one of the entertainment industry’s most powerful women at a historic time when (politically and positionally) the most powerful woman in the U.S. is running for U.S. President," said Melvin L. Williams, a communication professor at Pace University. 

Williams said he was uncertain that Beyonce would reach voters who have questions about Harris. "We must acknowledge that celebrities are great political advertisers, but they are not guarantors of political victory for candidates," he added. 

The rally in Houston, Beyonce's hometown, caps a string of political appearances and politically charged artistic works. In 2008, Beyonce's husband Jay-Z held a rally for Barack Obama, while Beyonce sang the national anthem and the Etta James classic "At Last" at Obama's 2009 inauguration. 

She performed a rally for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 and endorsed Joe Biden and Harris in 2020 on Instagram. 

Harris has embraced the song "Freedom" from "Lemonade," the album and movie Beyonce released in 2016, as her campaign anthem. "Lemonade" featured the mothers of police brutality victims; after its release, police unions in Tennessee and Florida urged their members to refuse to work her shows. 

Beyonce, whose Instagram account has 314 million followers, offers Harris access to a segment of the U.S. population, especially Black and younger voters, that is deemed crucial in a closely contested race against Trump.

Hollywood celebrities, including actors Julia Roberts and Jane Fonda, are campaigning for Harris, as are musicians Bruce Springsteen, Usher and Lizzo. Trump has won the endorsement of Ultimate Fighting stars, wrestler Hulk Hogan and musician Kid Rock. 

Young female residents of Houston were mixed on the politically charged performance of the city's biggest star. 

"Beyonce is a national icon because at the end of the day, we all are people with our own views and values. Beyonce is brave enough to stand by her values in the face of people judging her for it," said Nadira Smith, 27. 

But Sydney Mukavetz, 25, originally from Michigan, who has been living in Houston for a year, said she thought celebrities at political rallies was a "little weird."   

"It feels like an endorsement and a performance are very different," Mukavetz said. 

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Georgina McCartney in Houston, Stephanie Kelly in New York and Gabriella Borter in Washington. Editing by Heather Timmons and Matthew Lewis)