Kamala Harris makes an immigration pitch in Arizona as she fights to gain ground in the Sun Belt

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris drew on her prosecutorial background to make her first expansive pitch on immigration to border-state voters as she and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, attracted thousands to a campaign rally in Arizona during their tour of battleground states.

Harris, the former attorney general of California, reminded the crowd that she, as a law enforcement official, targeted transnational gangs, drug cartels and smugglers.

“I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won,” Harris said in front of a crowd of more than 15,000 in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix. “So I know what I'm talking about.”

Harris promoted a border security bill that a bipartisan group of senators negotiated earlier this year, which Republican lawmakers ultimately opposed en masse at Republican nominee Donald Trump's behest.

“Donald Trump does not want to fix this problem," Harris said. "Be clear about that: He has no interest or desire to actually fix the problem. He talks a big game about border security, but he does not walk the walk.”

Her effort to address immigration — a political liability that has dogged Harris for most of her vice presidency — head-on in the critical battleground state is part of a broader push from her campaign to make gains in Sun Belt states that had become increasingly out of reach with Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.

Trump and his allies, who had long hammered Biden over the influx of migrants during his term, are now shifting their attacks to Harris. Kari Lake, who is running against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego for the open Senate seat in Arizona, bashes Gallego in a recent ad for supporting Biden's and Harris’ “radical border agenda,” featuring repeated clips of the vice president chortling.

“It’s very easy for us to segue and switch our sights and focus on her,” said Dave Smith, Pima County’s Republican party chairman.

But Harris has been courting the state’s fast-growing Latino population and released a new ad of her own, highlighting how Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, rose to the highest echelons of American politics.

And, as she has done in other campaign stops, Harris during the rally infused the theme of “freedom” throughout her remarks, especially as it came to voting rights, gun safety, LBGT rights and access to abortion.

“Arizona, ours is a fight for the future and it is a fight for freedom,” Harris said, who had walked out on the stage as Beyonce's “Freedom" blared throughout Desert Diamond Arena.

Harris’ message on safety and gun restrictions resonated with Jen Duran, a 37-year-old mother and independent voter.

“I have an elementary school daughter who has been going to this school since she was 4, and today we got a notification that there was a lockdown drill,” Duran said. “So safety for our kids is really important.”

Phyllis Zeno, a 65-year-old grandmother from Maricopa, said she was thrilled to hear Harris’ message of unity and her policy positions, especially on affordable health care and reproductive rights.

“Her message to me, it wasn’t just hope, but renewed faith in democracy, that we can do this,” Zeno said.

Arizona is represented by Democrat Mark Kelly in the U.S. Senate, who has won two tough races in the politically divided states and whom Harris passed over as a running mate this week.

In choosing Walz over Kelly, Harris may have lost the chance to win over people like Gonzalo Leyva, a 49-year-old landscaper in Phoenix. Leyva plans to vote for Trump but says he would have backed a Harris-Kelly ticket.

“I prefer Kelly like 100 times,” said Leyva, a lifelong Democrat who became an independent at the beginning of Trump’s term in office. “I don’t think he’s that extreme like the other guys.”

In Arizona, every vote will be critical. The state is no stranger to nail-biter races, including in 2020 when Biden bested Trump by fewer than 11,000 votes. Both parties are bracing for a similar photo finish this year.

Harris acknowledged how tough the race will be as she and Walz toured a campaign office in North Phoenix Friday afternoon and thanked volunteers, who were making signs with sayings such as “This Mamala is Voting for Kamala” and “Kamala and the Coach.” (Walz has been a high school football coach.)

She also emphasized it during the rally.

“As exciting as this is, we cannot lose sight of a really important fact: We are definitely running as the underdog,” Harris said.

Democrats are confident Harris is in solid shape in the state even without Kelly on the ticket. The senator plans to remain a strong advocate for Harris and is already mentioned for possible Cabinet posts or other prominent roles should the vice president ascend to the Oval Office.

“What this is about is who works harder. That’s it,” Kelly said at the rally. “It is as simple as that.”

Arizona is something of a magnet for Midwesterners seeking to escape the cold. So, several observers say, Walz may still play well there. The governor himself noted that during his opening remarks for Harris, saying: “I'm like a damn snowman, I'm melting here.”

Scott Snyder, who moved to Phoenix three years ago from Detroit, wasn’t too familiar with Kelly’s background or his politics, but said Harris made the right choice with Walz.

“He reminds me a lot of my dad,” said Snyder, an electrician. “You see pictures of him out there coaching high school football. That’s something that resonates with me. You see him out there duck hunting. Same thing. That’s fairly common in Michigan, where I’m from.”

Arizona was reliably Republican until Trump's combative approach to politics went national.

In 2016, Trump won Arizona, then quickly started feuding with the late Republican Sen. John McCain, a political icon in the state. That sparked a steady exodus of educated, moderate Republicans from the GOP and toward Democrats in top-of-the-ticket contests.

In 2018, Democrats won an open Senate race in the state, foreshadowing Kelly's and Biden's wins in 2020. In 2022, Kelly won again, and Democrats swept the top three statewide races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state, defeating Republican candidates who hewed to Trump's style and his lies about fraud costing him the 2020 presidential election.

Chuck Coughlin, a Republican strategist and former McCain staffer, said the same voters who tipped the state to Democrats in the past few cycles remain lukewarm, at best, on Trump.

“Trump's not doing anything to embrace that segment of the electorate,” he said.

Meanwhile, there was a fresh reminder of yet another liability for Harris when she was interrupted by Gaza protesters.

Harris said she has been clear that “now is the time to get a cease-fire deal” to end fighting between Israel and Hamas that has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza. She stressed that she and Biden “are working around the clock every day to get that cease-fire deal done and bring the hostages home.”

Harris added, “I respect your voices, but we are here to now talk about this race in 2024.”

She responded differently earlier this week when Gaza protesters interrupted her during a Detroit-area rally. She talked over the protesters.

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Riccardi reported from Denver, and Kim reported from Washington. Walt Berry and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.