GLENDALE, Arizona (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris drew on her experience as a prosecutor to deliver her first comprehensive speech on immigration to voters in border states. She and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, drew thousands to a campaign rally in Arizona as part of their tour of swing states.
Harris, the former California attorney general, reminded the crowd that as a law enforcement officer she targeted transnational gangs, drug cartels and smugglers.
“I’ve prosecuted them in case after case and won,” Harris told more than 15,000 people in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix. “So I know what I’m talking about.”
Harris promoted a border security bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators earlier this year, which Republican lawmakers ultimately rejected unanimously at the behest of Republican candidate Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump does not want to solve this problem,” Harris said. “Let me be clear: He has no interest or desire to actually solve the problem. He talks big about border security, but he does nothing.”
Her efforts to directly address the immigration problem in this crucial swing state – a policy issue that has dogged Harris for most of her tenure as vice president – are part of a broader campaign aimed at gaining a foothold in Sun Belt states that had increasingly slipped out of reach under Joe Biden as front-runner.
Trump and his allies, who have long criticized Biden for the influx of migrants during his time in office, are now turning their attacks on Harris. Kari Lake, who is running against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego for Arizona’s vacant Senate seat, attacked Gallego in a recent ad for supporting Biden and Harris’ “radical border agenda,” repeatedly showing clips of the vice president’s chuckling laughter.
“It’s very easy for us to change our perspective and focus on them,” said Dave Smith, chairman of the Pima County Republican Party.
But Harris is courting the state’s fast-growing Latino population and has released a new ad of her own highlighting how Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, rose to the highest ranks of American politics.
And as in other campaign appearances, Harris incorporated the theme of “freedom” into all of her remarks during the rally, particularly when it came to voting rights, gun safety, LGBT rights and access to abortion.
“Arizona, our fight is a fight for the future and a fight for freedom,” said Harris, who took the stage as Beyonce’s “Freedom” blared through the Desert Diamond Arena.
Harris’ message on safety and gun restrictions resonated with Jen Duran, a 37-year-old mother and independent voter.
“I have a daughter who has been in elementary school since she was four, and today we received notification that there is a lockdown drill,” Duran said. “So the safety of our children is really important.”
Phyllis Zeno, a 65-year-old grandmother from Maricopa, said she was delighted with Harris’ message of unity and her policy positions, particularly on affordable health care and reproductive rights.
“Their message to me was not just hope, but a renewed faith in democracy, that we can do it,” Zeno said.
Arizona is represented in the U.S. Senate by Democrat Mark Kelly, who won two tough races in the politically divided states and whom Harris passed over for his running mate this week.
By choosing Walz over Kelly, Harris may have lost the chance to win over people like Gonzalo Leyva, a 49-year-old landscaper from Phoenix. Leyva plans to vote for Trump but says he would have supported a Harris-Kelly ticket.
“I prefer Kelly a hundred times,” said Leyva, a lifelong Democrat who became an independent early in Trump’s term. “I don’t think he’s as extreme as the others.”
In Arizona, every vote will be crucial. The state is no stranger to nail-biting elections, including in 2020, when Biden defeated Trump by fewer than 11,000 votes. Both parties are bracing for a similar outcome this year.
Harris was aware of how tough the campaign will be when she and Walz toured a campaign office in north Phoenix on Friday afternoon and thanked volunteers who made signs with slogans like “This Mamala is voting for Kamala” and “Kamala and the Coach.” (Walz was a high school football coach.)
She also emphasized this during the rally.
“As exciting as this is, we must not lose sight of a really important fact: We are definitely the underdogs,” Harris said.
Democrats are confident that Harris is well positioned even without Kelly on the ballot. The senator plans to remain a strong advocate for Harris and is already being mentioned for possible cabinet posts or other important roles should the vice president ascend to the Oval Office.
“This is about who works harder. That’s all,” Kelly said at the rally. “It’s as simple as that.”
Arizona is a magnet for people from the Midwest who want to escape the cold, so several observers think Walz could still play well there. The governor himself noted this in his opening speech for Harris, saying, “I’m like a damn snowman, I’m melting here.”
Scott Snyder, who moved to Phoenix from Detroit three years ago, was not too familiar with Kelly’s background and political views, but said Harris made the right choice in Walz.
“He reminds me a lot of my dad,” said Snyder, an electrician. “You see pictures of him coaching high school football. That’s something that touches me. You see him out duck hunting. Same thing. That’s pretty common in Michigan, where I’m from.”
Arizona was a reliably Republican state until Trump’s hawkish policies gained national traction.
Trump won Arizona in 2016 but quickly fell out with the late Republican Senator John McCain, a political icon in the state. This sparked a steady exodus of educated, moderate Republicans from the GOP and swept the Democrats in top-tier races.
In 2018, Democrats won an open race for the state’s Senate seat, foreshadowing Kelly and Biden’s victories in 2020. In 2022, Kelly won again, and Democrats swept the three most important races nationwide for governor, attorney general and secretary of state, defeating Republican candidates who maintained Trump’s style and his lies about voter fraud that cost him the 2020 presidential election.
Chuck Coughlin, a Republican strategist and former McCain aide, said the same voters who swung the state to Democrats over the past few election cycles remain lukewarm at best toward Trump.
“Trump is doing nothing to appeal to that part of the electorate,” he said.
Meanwhile, Harris was reminded of another burden when she was interrupted by protesters in the Gaza Strip.
Harris said she made it clear that “now is the time for a ceasefire” to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Gaza. She stressed that she and Biden are “working around the clock every day to finalize this ceasefire and bring the hostages home.”
Harris added: “I respect your opinion, but we are here now to talk about this race in 2024.”
She reacted differently earlier this week when Gaza demonstrators interrupted her at a rally in the Detroit area. She interrupted the demonstrators.
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Riccardi reported from Denver and Kim from Washington. Walt Berry and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
