Ronald J. Hansen,Laura GersonyArizona Republic
Democrats held their biggest rally since reshaping their presidential ticket and those in Glendale, from presidential nominee Kamala Harris to one of those she considered for vice president, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, to those sitting in the stands sent messages about what it all meant.
Here are five takeaways from an event that seemed to signal a sea change in the battle for Arizona.
Raising the bar in terms of Arizona crowd sizes and enthusiasm
Arizona Democrats made a statement about their numbers and their enthusiasm with the near-capacity crowd at Desert Diamond Arena.
The Glendale facility holds more than 19,000 people, and there were few empty seats.
That caught the attention of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee.
The Minnesota governor joked about “a few people showed up in Philadelphia the other night,” followed by 10,000 in a Wisconsin field and an even bigger crowd in suburban Detroit.
“But Arizona couldn’t leave it alone, could you?” he said with a laugh. “It’s not as if anybody cares about crowd sizes or anything.”
It was more than an appreciative nod to the Democrats’ supporters. It was a message to former President Donald Trump, who has long fixated on crowd sizes, TV ratings and any other measures of his own popularity.
President Joe Biden won Arizona in 2020 by the narrowest margin of any state he carried. But Trump has consistently led in public polling in Arizona for more than a year. With Biden out of the race, it was unclear until Friday whether Democrats could again stake a claim to Arizona.
If crowds matter, Democrats showed they intend to fight for Arizona.
Polling is just beginning to reflect the revised Democratic ticket and Trump’s own vice-presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. But it appears the state is closer now, similar to what is happening in other swing states and in nationwide polling.
Sen. Mark Kelly rallies around the ticket
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who was on Harris' short list for vice president, was one of the speakers who warmed up the crowd at Friday’s rally.
Kelly focused on international relations and the military in his speech, contrasting the Democrats' approach to Trump's track record.
International relations are at stake, he said, saying the election outcome will determine "whether our alliances are strengthened or shredded.”
The appearance was the latest sign of Kelly’s support for the Harris-Walz ticket, which has united Democrats across several wings of the party. His enthusiastic speech signaled, at least publicly, that he had no hard feelings after falling just short of being the vice presidential nominee himself.
He cheered on the duo and made note of Walz’s Army background, amid GOP-led attacks on the Minnesota governor's military record.
"What we need is an army," Kelly said, as he urged the crowd to work to get the Democratic ticket elected in November.
Kamala Harris offers clearer message to Gaza protesters
At Friday’s rally, Harris offered one of her clearest public statements on the war in Gaza since she became the party’s nominee.
Several minutes into her remarks, a handful of protesters began chanting a slogan in support of the Palestinian cause: “Free, free, free Palestine.”
Rather than ignore or shut down the protests as she has done in the past — “I’m speaking,” Harris told protesters in Detroit earlier this week — Harris answered them.
“I have been clear: Now is the time to get a ceasefire deal, and get the hostage deal done,” she said.
Harris, who has pushed the White House to show more concern for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, said she and Biden were working “around the clock” to accomplish both goals.
“I respect your voices, but we are here to now talk about this race in 2024,” she said.
The issue has divided Democrats since the latest wave of hostilities between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023. Biden and Harris have proactively dodged protests on the topic: For a time the campaign was holding smaller campaign events, or withholding the time and location of events from the public, to avoid protests on the topic, NBC News reported.
Asked about the topic at Northern Arizona University last year, Harris delivered a hesitant response that left the crowd of college students unsatisfied.
Inside the Glendale arena on Friday, Harris response seemed not just to drown out the protests, but to put them to rest. The crowd cheered loudly at the mention of a ceasefire and Harris delivered the rest of her speech uninterrupted.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in Arizona: Rallygoers find hope, joy in message
Where was Gov. Katie Hobbs?
At the outset of her remarks, Harris did the obligatory kudos to “incredible leaders” on hand. But there was one prominent no-show.
Harris name-checked U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
She didn’t acknowledge that Kelly was among her finalists for the vice-presidential nomination that eventually went to Walz, but she did praise Kelly as a “dear friend.”
“As Arizona knows, Mark is an extraordinary leader who has dedicated his life to the service of our nation as a fighter pilot, as an astronaut and as a member of the United States Congress,” Harris said. “He has given so much to our country. He always fights for the people of Arizona and I am so grateful, Mark, for your friendship and your leadership.”
Harris praised Kelly’s wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.
Harris thanked Mayors Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Corey Woods of Tempe and John Giles of Mesa. Giles is a Republican who has crossed party lines to back Harris.
What was missing was any mention of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Hobbs wasn’t on hand for the Friday late afternoon rally, extending a run of absences at presidential events for her. She cited a vague, undisclosed scheduling conflict.
Earlier in the week, Hobbs gushed about Walz while downplaying the fact that Kelly had been in the running for the same position.
“Oh my gosh, you should have been in my house and heard my scream when I saw the news this morning. I’m absolutely thrilled that Vice President Harris has chosen him to be her running mate,” Hobbs told reporters.
She went on to note that she had worked with Walz “directly on many issues and have seen firsthand his dedication to the American people.”
Hobbs said Kelly “would have been a great choice. I have worked with him a lot to deliver for Arizonans and I know as vice president he would have continued that.”
Kelly and Hobbs ran their 2022 election campaigns very separately. While Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and Senate candidate Blake Masters repeatedly appeared together as “Lake and Blake,” Kelly and Hobbs were seldom seen in the same place together.
Arizona Republicans are taking the Harris-Walz ticket seriously
Even before the crowd lined up to get into the event, Republicans telegraphed their concern — whether they intended to or not.
On Thursday, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake headed a news conference in Chandler that quickly turned into an array of GOP attacks on Harris.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., for example, mocked Harris over the unofficial “border czar” title often used to describe a duty President Joe Biden gave her to determine the root cause of illegal immigration from certain countries.
Lake, whose unrivaled support of former President Donald Trump and embrace of election denialism in the 2020 and 2022 elections has raised her profile to national levels, sounded a sour note about Harris’ ascension to the top of the Democratic ticket.
“Nobody’s voted for her to be on the ticket. Not a single American voted for Kamala Harris to be on the ticket, not a single Democrat,” Lake said.
“My question to Democrats out there is: Are you OK with that? Is that a threat to democracy? It sounds like it to me. It really does.”
Lake’s words echoed Trump’s own complaints Thursday at his news conference at his Florida resort.
“We have somebody that hasn’t received one vote for president, and she’s running, and that’s fine with me. But we were given Joe Biden, and now we’re given somebody else. And I think, frankly, I’d rather be running against somebody else," Trump said. "But that was their choice. They decided to do that because Kamala’s record is horrible. She’s a radical left person at a level that nobody’s seen."
Trump called her “the least-admired, least-respected, and the worst vice president in the history of our country, the most unpopular vice president.”
By contrast, in a sign that Trump wanted Biden to remain in the race, he had little to say about Biden after his disastrous debate performance and as many Democrats called for him to leave.
Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger contributed to this article.
Vote now: Kamala Harris went to this Mexican restaurant. Where else should she have dined?
