TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN — In 2020, Joe Biden won Arizona by less than 11,000 votes.
Less than three months out, polls show former President Trump with a slim lead over Harris.
But republicans and democrats in Pima County are gearing up for more visits ahead of November.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive democratic nominee, is making her first visit to Arizona, Friday.
“We need to flip Arizona into a blue state,” says Christina Early, a volunteer for LD18.
On the GOP side of things, Vance's visit last week included a stop in Cochise County.
“Arizona is critically important. We're one of those five critical estate, and I'll be honest with you, when you evaluate nationally, Pima County is about number 21 in priorities for us to get the count up,” says Dave Smith, chairman of the Pima County GOP.
The democratic strategy appears to be to continue their focus on winning Maricopa and Pima counties, who accounted for over 2.5 million votes in 2020.
But Harris hasn't visited the Arizona border, a talking point the Trump campaign has used against President Biden and now against Vice President Harris.
“The Arizona border seems to be something she just simply can't go to. She goes to El Paso and and goes to the bridge, but she hasn't been to the actual border crisis, and that's the problem she has to deal with,” says Smith.
Joy Soler owns Revolutionary Grounds Books and Coffee and she says she leans further left than Vice President Harris.
She thinks it would be a good idea for Harris to visit the border, but not for the same reasons as the republican party.
“I'm hoping maybe she'll come to the border and see the vibrancy of the border community and the importance that it is to us in Arizona, and maybe look at other alternatives, other options than continuing that destructive path,” says Soler.
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For more KGUN 9 Elections Coverage:
- Arizona local and state elections
- US political news
- Scripps News: The Race
