Joe Biden (D) largely abandoned battleground Arizona in the final stretch of the presidential election — a crucial point given that several hypothetical electoral scenarios show a Biden or President Trump victory largely hinging on the Grand Canyon State’s 11 electoral votes.
Trump won Arizona in 2016 by 3.5 percent. Polls leading up to Election Day showed the race tightening, with the former vice president holding an edge of slightly less than one percent as of Tuesday morning. Even CNN published an analysis on the eve of the election titled, “Why this race likely comes down to Arizona and Pennsylvania.” Despite that, Biden largely ignored the valuable swing state in the final stretch of the election, while Trump blitzed the state, holding massive rallies in Bullhead City and Goodyear last week.
Biden’s last appearance in Arizona, it seems, was early October 8, meeting with small business owners alongside his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as part of their “Soul of the Nation” bus tour. During his address, he repeated a number of falsehoods, claiming that Trump seeks to “take away Medicare benefits for seniors.” He also repeated the uncorroborated claim reported by The Atlantic, which cited anonymous sources who claimed Trump called fallen soldiers “suckers” and “losers.”
Near his close, Biden urged Arizonians to go out and vote early, telling voters that “the best thing you can do is return your ballot quickly.”
“Don’t risk delays. Return that mail in ballot as soon as you can and make sure your voice is heard, because if your voice can overcome and go out and vote, your voice through your vote can overcome every one of the challenges we face,” he said.
But in the final three weeks of the election, Biden, himself, did not appear to target the state. Trump, on the other hand, heavily incorporated Arizona in his final election blitz.
On October 19, Trump held rallies in both Prescott and Tucson. And last week, Trump held two massive rallies in both Bullhead City and Goodyear, drawing “thousands” of attendees. Those rallies coincided with Harris’s stop in the state. She appeared to draw “several dozen” to her event:
“When we win, you win. Arizona wins, Nevada wins, and America wins,” Trump told the crowd at the Bullhead City rally.
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel provided an update following Trump’s Arizona rallies, revealing that 24 percent of the 23,591 signups for Bullhead City event were “NOT Republican” and 45 percent had not voted in 2016. McDaniel also reported 17,251 signups for Goodyear rally, 19.5 percent of whom were “NOT Republican.” Over one-third did not vote four years ago, either:
Over the summer, Biden told an Arizona TV station that Arizona is “an important city” in the 2020 election.
Arizona polls are open until 7 p.m. MST or 9 p.m. EST.
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