The Harris Campaign and Mark Kelly
Biden withdrew from the election on July 21 amid pressure from his party and endorsed Harris’s campaign later the same day. Multiple top Democrats quickly followed, and by July 23, Harris had the endorsement of enough convention delegates to become her party’s presumptive nominee. Many voters in Arizona expressed relief that Biden was no longer running.“Before Biden stepped down, I was really hoping that he would do that and then get behind Kamala,” said Democrat Jamie Bish, who voted at the Living Word Ahwatukee in Phoenix. “I think she'll do really well because people are looking for something different.”
“I think it’s good that parties control their own,” Mary, a Democratic voter from Chandler, Arizona, told The Epoch Times, expressing approval for Biden’s withdrawal and Harris’s advancement.
Regarding Harris’s choice of running mate, voters spoke positively of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), the state’s junior senator who was first elected in 2020.
“I’m really hoping it'll be Mark Kelly, because I think he’s got a lot to offer,” Bish said. “He is Gabby Giffords’s husband.”
Kelly, a Navy veteran and former astronaut, is married to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot in the head in 2011 and has since become a gun violence prevention advocate.
Other voters who indicated a preference for Kelly were open to other candidates as well.
“If it ends up being, for vice president, Kelly as the nominee, I think that there’s gonna be a very strong race, and he'll be able to bring a lot of Arizona border perspective,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), the Democratic Party’s nominee for the Senate election, told reporters after casting his vote in the primary for which he ran unopposed.
Some Democrats did not want Harris to choose Kelly as her vice president.
“I'd prefer [Mark Kelly] to stay in his seat,” said Ian, a 20-year-old college student in Phoenix who was dropping off ballots to be counted at the Church of the Beatitudes Polling Station.
Some voters raised the point that Harris is reportedly considering only white men for her running mate. “She’s very, very liberal, so I think she’s going to pick somebody that’s more on the conservative side, a white guy,” said David Murphy, an Independent voter at a polling place at Living Word Ahwatukee.
Reforming the Supreme Court
Biden’s withdrawal from the race has not stopped him from announcing major policy actions. On July 29, he announced a proposal for Congress to enact 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices, impose a binding code of conduct on them, and pass an amendment to the Constitution that would overturn the court’s July 1 decision in Trump v. United States, in which the court ruled that U.S. presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts committed while in office. The court has been heavily criticized by Democrats during Biden’s presidency since it overturned Roe v. Wade, which 51 years ago established a constitutional right to an abortion.Arizona voters of both parties appeared open to some of Biden’s proposed Supreme Court reforms, which Republicans have broadly rejected. However, they expressed a preference for stronger action to reform not just the Court but also other federal branches.
“I think all of them should have term limits—every branch. Absolutely they should,” Murphy, who participated in the Republican primary, said. “You’ve got to have a little bit of accountability. I get it for gifts and stuff like that. You can’t, you know, try to influence a court. That’s not necessarily right.”
“If we’re going to have something proposed, it should be sweeping—not just for one branch,” said Julie Magro, a Republican voter at the Living Word Polling Station who switched from being an Independent.
“I absolutely agree with it. Absolutely—100 percent. I think that they need term limits. ... I think that things have gotten a little carried away,” Bish said.
Biden’s proposed constitutional amendment regarding presidential immunity drew a cooler reception.
“I don’t think we should be changing the Constitution,” Murphy said.
Ballot Access and Proof of Citizenship
Voter eligibility has also become a campaign issue in the state. In 2022, then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed two bills into law. House Bill 2492 required voters to provide proof of citizenship when voting in presidential elections and to vote by mail for any office, and House Bill 2243 required county records to cancel a voter’s registration if they suspect the voter is not a U.S. citizen. The laws have been opposed by Democrats and Latino groups, who argue that it will suppress voting by U.S. citizens of Latino origin.Some Arizona voters expressed approval of these state laws.
“We need to make sure that the right people are voting, that are legally able to vote,” Magro said. “I'd rather go through extra hoops for that than to have people voting who aren’t legally able to vote.”
“If you’re not a citizen, you shouldn’t vote. If you don’t have ID, you shouldn’t vote. That’s what they’re trying to do with bringing 20 million people in to give them amnesty so they can vote. That’s a travesty,” Murphy said.
