PHOENIX — Democratic nominee for president and current Vice President Kamala Harris rallied to supporters near Phoenix Thursday as early voting gets underway in the battleground state.
Harris spoke at the Rawhide Event Center in the Gila River Indian Community. A representative from her team said more than 7,000 people attended.
Harris works to win over independents, Republicans
Thursday marked Harris' third visit to Arizona since becoming the nominee. It's no coincidence her visit came the day after early voting began.
"We are nearing the home stretch and this will be a very tight race until the very end," Harris said.
Polling shows former President Donald Trump with a very narrow lead over Harris. To win that tight race, Harris is trying to appeal to voters like Wanda Stines.
"I'm a Republican and I'm here to support Kamala," Stines said.
Stines is from Surprise and said she is a lifelong Republican. She's only voted Democrat once and it was for President Barack Obama.
"What was it about her or about former President Donald Trump that made you make that choice?" asked 12News reporter Bianca Buono.
"Trump's treatment of women," Stines said. "She is such a warm and caring person. I can't say that about him."
Harris plans to meet with around 150 members of the group Arizona Republicans for Harris on Friday.
"With your help, in 26 days, we will win," Harris said.
Harris avoids border, talks economy, reproductive freedom and healthcare
One of the loudest roars of applause during Harris' speech came when the candidate brought up the late Arizona Senator John McCain and his "no" vote on the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
"Donald Trump intends to end the Affordable Care Act," Harris said. "I'm going to tell you about one particular night which has a direct connection to all of you. So that one night, it was late, late, late in the night. They were trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act again and it required one more vote to keep it intact and that vote was the late, great John McCain."
Harris talked about the economy and her plan to help first-time homebuyers with $25,000 in down payment assistance. She claimed she would give a tax cut to 100 million Americans and include a $6,000 child tax credit for parents of newborns.
But in her thirty-minute speech, Harris did not mention the border.
Arizona voters fired up for Harris
"This is bomb!” said Harris supporter Keith Edmondson as he waited for Harris to arrive.
The 63-year-old retiree from the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert said he was feeling optimistic about Harris’ chances in Maricopa County as early voting got underway this week. One sign: the lack of Trump yard signs. Edmondson said in 2020 he remembered many more Trump signs than he says he is seeing this year.
But there is one voting group he said he is concerned with, young Black men.
Edmondson, who is Black, said he is currently trying to convince his three grandsons to vote for Harris even though their father (who also is Edmondson’s son) is a Trump supporter.
“There are more Black folks supporting Donald Trump than I thought,” he said. He attributes this to misinformation about Harris and her time as a prosecutor.
He says he talks to his grandsons about Harris and posts TikTok videos so they will see him supporting Harris.
He said he remembers being at Mile High Stadium in Denver the night Barack Obama won the presidency and says this time if Harris wins it will be even more historic.
“This is a woman and a Black woman to boot,” he said.
“It’s about race. I don’t care what people say,” he said about the election.
Harris was first sitting vice president to visit Arizona native tribe
Harris was scheduled to speak at Rawhide Western Center, an old-west venue on the Gila River Indian Community reservation just outside the Phoenix suburbs.
In the summer of 2023, Harris was the first sitting president or vice president to visit the tribe. She was greeted by Native American dancers before speaking at a school in a small reservation town called Komatke.
Her motorcade then drove on dusty roads to a remote construction site where crews were a building water pipeline with money from the infrastructure bill signed by Biden. The pipeline is part of a broader plan to conserve water from the drought-stricken Colorado River, a crucial source of drinking water for the fast-growing Phoenix and Tucson metro areas.
Arizona has 22 federally recognized Native American tribes, and people who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native make up 5% of the state’s population. Indian Country has been a crucial part of the Democratic coalition in the swing state going back to Janet Napolitano’s victory in the 2002 race for governor.
At Thursday's Harris rally in the state, Native American leaders noted the influence of its voting bloc.
“The Native vote has never been more important because it will and it can make a difference in the state of Wisconsin, in Nevada, in North Carolina, in Michigan and right here in this great state of Arizona. What I call the Native wall of voters,” Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community, told the crowd of Harris supporters as the first speaker of the night.
Trump in Prescott Valley on Sunday
Republican nominee for president and former President Donald Trump will hold a rally Sunday in Prescott Valley, a Republican stronghold in Arizona. The GOP presidential nominee is expected to deliver remarks at the Findlay Toyota Arena on Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. Info on obtaining tickets can be found here.
Both candidates have made multiple trips to the state this election cycle. These visits come as Maricopa County voters can cast their ballots during early voting.
Arizona had 4.1 million registered voters as of late July, according to the most recent tally by the Secretary of State’s Office. That figure likely is higher as both parties pushed to increase registration before Monday's deadline.
Decision 2024
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