This week, President Joe Biden will visit Arizona and Nevada, two western battleground states, to make his case for reelection and rally support in areas that could determine whether he faces off against former President Donald Trump in November.
In his speech, Biden will argue that his initiatives are helping the American people by lowering housing costs and increasing employment opportunities in renewable energy and manufacturing. During his journey, he will also bring attention to the campaign’s early organising in these two states, which they consider to be “core” to winning the election.
Latinos are a substantial voting bloc in both Arizona and Nevada; the president is following in his predecessor’s footsteps in trying to win over this population, which has been an important ally of the Democratic Party for quite some time. Campaign officials announced that Biden will visit South Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday evening to launch the “Latinos con Biden-Harris” organising push.
Preliminary polls suggest that the president may face difficulties in reclaiming Nevada and Arizona, two western swing states where he defeated Trump in 2020. A Fox News survey in Arizona showed that Trump had a slim lead over Biden, who has also been hurt by poor approval ratings nationally; the race in Nevada is anticipated to be close.
The Biden campaign, meanwhile, is keeping its fingers crossed that moderate voters might be swayed by their stances on reproductive rights and democracy.
The campaign is banking on the fact that women and moderate voters in Arizona and Nevada could be energised by the possibility of abortion rights measures appearing on their state ballots in November.
Voters in Arizona and Nevada will have the chance to amend their state constitutions in 2024 to guarantee abortion access if a certain number of signatures are collected for a ballot measure. Among the 50 states, Nevada has some of the strongest pro-choice legislation. According to Dan Kanninen, the head of battleground states for the Biden campaign, the great majority of Arizonans also support abortion access.
The campaign intends to use the fight for democracy as a central tenet of its case in these states, alongside concerns such as job development and union protection.
“Democracy issues are quite powerful and prominent in both states. After Trump’s defeat in 2020 in Arizona, his supporters began the now-infamous process of auditing the state’s elections. The Republican Party in Nevada is actually headed by Trump’s phoney electors who are indicted. In these places, moderate Republicans, Democrats, and independents have united to defeat far-right candidates who have skillfully countered Trump’s falsehoods, according to Kanninen.
To win both states, Biden will need to rally new voters and activate his 2020 coalition. Kanninen stated that the campaign is targeting a diverse range of voters in both states, including those who identify as AAPI, Latino, Black, indigenous, young, or female. Biden is also aiming to rally support from union members.
As part of their March month of activity, the Biden campaign will be visiting every battleground state, including the Sun Belt, to build on what they saw as a successful State of the Union address. In order to reach 270 electoral votes, senior campaign advisors have stated that the western states, the so-called blue wall, and two southern states are crucial.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager, wrote in a memo, “Across the Southwest, Donald Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda have taken over the Republican Party establishment, causing deep divisions among traditional GOP voters and an opening for Democrats that has increasingly become a trendline.” So says Rodriguez.
Biden has already visited New Hampshire, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the weeks after the State of the Union. Next week, the president and vice president, Kamala Harris, will travel to North Carolina, a state that the campaign views as potentially offering a possibility for a pickup.
With the addition of more than 100 new offices and 350 additional team members, including 40 in Nevada and Arizona, the campaign is ramping up its battlefield operation, according to Chavez Rodriguez’s memo.
Biden’s journey to the west
Biden will meet with Washoe County community leaders and campaign volunteers during his initial swing in the Reno, Nevada, area. Kanninen characterised Washoe County as a “key swing county that has been critical to Democrats’ wins in recent cycles.”
Continuing his tour, Biden will make a stop in Las Vegas on Tuesday to discuss his strategy to address the growing cost of housing. He will urge lawmakers to enact measures that would make it easier for first-time buyers to enter the market and for renters to find affordable housing. The state’s supply of affordable rental housing for people with extremely low incomes is severely lacking, as reported by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
According to Biden senior adviser Gene Sperling, “Nevada is the perfect place to lay out the president’s State of the Union housing goals and housing agenda.” This is due to the fact that Nevada was one of the states that received housing vouchers in the 2021 COVID relief package but also has a significantly higher demand for housing.
That is why, in his budget proposal that was sent to Congress earlier this month, Biden called for investments in housing worth $258 billion. It suggests new regulations and policies to lower closing costs, asks Congress to approve a two-year, $10,000 mortgage relief credit for middle-class first-time buyers, and offers tax credits and a competitive grant fund to construct more affordable housing.
As for renters, Biden has urged government agencies to combat corporate landlords’ price gouging, crack down on rental surcharges, and urge Congress to increase the number of households eligible for housing choice vouchers from 100,000 to over 500,000.
Although a senior administration official assured reporters that the policies are “incredibly bipartisan” at the state level, many of the components that require congressional approval may encounter difficulties in a split Congress during an election year.
He will arrive in Phoenix later Tuesday and launch the campaign’s “Latinos con Biden-Harris” push with remarks at a local Mexican restaurant. In addition to opening offices in locations with large Latino populations and increasing the number of organisers who are fluent in Spanish, the campaign is launching an organising effort that will provide Latino supporters with training and messaging sessions both online and in person.
During his Wednesday speech in the Phoenix area, the president will also discuss his “Investing in America” plan. According to a person familiar with the arrangements, the president is anticipated to announce significant financing for the CHIPS and Science Act during the event. This is part of his efforts to increase American chip production.
During his travels this week, Biden is expected to attend fundraisers in Dallas and Houston, Texas. This comes just days after the campaign announced that it raised $53 million in February, indicating a surge in donor interest. With a substantial cash advantage over Trump, Biden is expected to continue filling his campaign war chest.
