Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris addresses a crowd of 7,000 at the Rawhide Event Center on the Gila River Indian Community on Oct. 10, 2024. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
With less than a month until Election Day and early ballots already arriving in Arizona mailboxes, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Grand Canyon State for the third time in as many months to rally support for herself and other Democrats.
As Donald Trump’s MAGA movement has taken over Republican politics, Democrats have turned once solidly red Arizona into a battleground state. Since 2018, they have won both U.S. Senate seats and races for governor, secretary of state and attorney general, and they have narrowed GOP control of the state legislature to a single seat in each chamber.
And in 2020, for the first time since Bill Clinton’s reelection in 1996, Arizona backed a Democratic presidential candidate when Joe Biden won the state by less than 11,000 votes.
Harris is hoping to continue that momentum while Trump hopes to reverse it. Both campaigns have turned their attention to the state. On Thursday, Harris held a campaign rally near Chandler — a Phoenix suburb that has turned from deep red to purple — and this weekend, Trump will gather thousands of supporters in Prescott Valley, in the heart of the state’s most conservative county.
And both vice presidential nominees, Democrat Tim Walz and Republican J.D. Vance, were in Arizona this week, along with other campaign surrogates.
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Harris’ rally came on the second day of early voting, and Democrats used her appearance to urge voters to cast their ballots.
“Arizona is the battleground of all battlegrounds, and the race will be decided right here,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego told the crowd of 7,000 supporters. “This is the most consequential election of our lifetime, and we know it.”
Supporters of Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris hold signs at a campaign rally at the Rawhide Event Center on the Gila River Indian Community on Oct. 10, 2024. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
Many of the speakers hit on policies popular among Democratic and progressive voters, including reproductive freedom, protecting young immigrants and supporting union jobs. The speakers also highlighted the differences between their policy agendas and those of their opponents, specifically the policy outline known as Project 2025.
Project 2025 is a right-wing blueprint created by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power if Trump wins in November. The list of policy plans was created in large part by former Trump aides and allies.
The Heritage Foundation created the 900-page document in partnership with more than 100 other conservative groups, many with extreme views on abortion, taxes, immigration and federal agencies. Proposals in Project 2025 include completely banning abortion nationwide, bringing the U.S. Department of Justice under the direct control of the president, increased immigration enforcement, sweeping cuts to federal agencies and replacing civil servants with Trump loyalists.
Trump has disavowed Project 2025 and has gone so far as to say he has no idea what it is or who wrote it, but there are many connections between it and members of Trump’s inner circle, including former top Trump aide John McEntee, who is said to be one of the main leaders behind the proposal.
Democratic Tucson Mayor Regina Romero called out Project 2025 specifically during her remarks to the crowd.
“It contains an agenda against every single person you care about,” Romero said, later adding that she wanted every person in attendance to get five people within their inner circle to vote.
“Arizona is the blue wall of the Southwest,” she said. “The blue wall that will stop J.D. Vance and Donald Trump.”
The visit is also Harris’ first visit as a candidate to the Gila River Indian Community, as Harris and Walz have been working to garner support from Indigenous communities. Earlier this week, Walz spoke to a room of tribal leaders about the importance of the Native vote in Arizona. About 6% of Arizona’s overall population are indigenous people and about 300,000 of the state’s voting age residents are Natives.
“Each and every single day, one of our votes matters,” Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis told the crowd before asking them all to vote early. “The Native vote matters.”
In her speech Thursday night, Harris touted the work she has done with tribal leaders as vice president and promised to continue to work with them if elected president.
While Harris received thunderous applause when speaking about issues such as the middle class, abortion access and more, she also faced criticism from the audience.
Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris addresses a crowd of 7,000 at the Rawhide Event Center on the Gila River Indian Community on Oct. 10, 2024. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
During her speech, a young woman in the audience unfurled a Palestine flag and began shouting at Harris that the Biden administration was engaged in a “genocide” of the Palestinian people.
Progressives and pro-Palestinian Democrats have sharply criticized Biden for allying so closely with Israel as its conflict with Hamas enters its second year. The attacks, in response to a terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed more than 1,200, has created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Harris has begun distancing herself from Biden on the issue, but has not mollified pro-Palestinian elements in the Democratic Party.
“Your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power,” Harris said to the crowd. “I ask you, are you ready to make your voices heard?”
For voters in Maricopa County, information on where to vote in person on Nov. 5 can be found at Locations.Maricopa.Vote, which shows all polling locations and drop boxes for early ballots.
Those in other counties in the state can find similar information on the Secretary of State’s Office website at my.Arizona.vote.
Voters can find a full list of the contacts for the election officials in their county at this link.
Voters can find additional information on the vote counting process at CountingBallots.Maricopa.Vote.
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