PHOENIX — For 16 years, actress Jennifer Garner has been a tireless advocate for poor children in the forgotten rural areas of the country, like those in her home state of West Virginia.
"I am happy to meet with anyone who wants to talk to me about poor kids," Garner said during an exclusive interview Saturday before a Phoenix campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Garner has lobbied on Capitol Hill for Save the Children, one of the world's largest charities benefiting children.
"When I'm in DC, I meet with both sides of the aisle," she said. "I was a buddy of Senator (John) McCain's."
The "meet anyone" attitude earned Garner a White House visit with Ivanka Trump after her father, Republican Donald Trump, took office as president in 2017. (The Trump administration "never really did follow through" on her pitch for rural education, she says.)
"The only way to work is across the aisle," Garner said.
"The only way to work is to work together. It's only way to get anything really done."
The advocate and actress -- star of "Alias," "13 Going on 30" and Capitol One commercials -- brought that bipartisan message to a private Phoenix gathering for the Harris-Walz campaign titled, "Democracy Across the Aisle."
"This shows the collaboration from people who have nothing in common and everything," host Bettina Nava said to the group of about 50. Nava is a former McCain aide who's joined Republicans for Harris.
Joining Garner for the 40-minute discussion were:
- Mesa Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury, a "lifetime Republican" who is voting for Harris.
"I really do believe that there are a lot of Republicans out there that will listen," Spilsbury said.
"110,000 Republicans in Arizona voted for Haley even after Trump was already the nominee. We have the numbers in Arizona to make the difference, and Republicans are key to that."
Arizona Republicans' historic turnout advantage in presidential elections means Democratic statewide candidates must win a significant slice of the GOP vote - 10% or more - in order to remain competitive.
- Stephanie Grisham, a former press secretary for Donald and Melania Trump. Before joining the Trump campaign in 2015, Grisham worked for Republican officeholders in Arizona.
"We need to give Republicans like me an off-ramp, and tell people it's OK if you don't want to go with this unethical, horrible human being," Grisham said of her former boss.
"I could sit here for hours and tell you guys stories that would boggle your mind about what I saw behind the scenes."
- Ambassador Susan Rice, who served as United Nations ambassador and national security adviser under Democratic President Barack Obama and domestic policy adviser under Democratic President Joe Biden.
"Nobody can replicate the experiences and the knowledge that Stephanie has," Rice said. "I'm kind of freaked out, to be honest."
Rice added: "It's not just that we should be against Donald Trump. We really should be for Kamala Harris... She has the great intellect and smarts, but she combines that with a really rare compassion for people."
Garner said today's Republican Party "doesn't remind me of my dad."
Her late father was a Republican, she said, and her mother is a Democrat. Her parents met in Tucson, where she was a schoolteacher and he was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
"Remind your Republican friends, it's not forever," Garner said of a vote for Harris, whom she's known since Harris served as San Francisco's district attorney in the 2000s.
"They can support the next John McCain who comes along... There are so many wonderful Republicans coming up - (but) not this year, not right now, not this man."
The conversation Saturday was one of several Harris-Walz events in the Valley with A-list celebrities. Actresses Kerry Washington, Jessica Alba and Glenn Close were scheduled to make campaign stops Sunday.
The Trump-Vance campaign hasn't announced any events yet in the coming week.
Recent polling in Arizona shows the race between Harris and Trump is a toss-up.