‘Our goal is to knock on 1 million doors’: Young Arizona voters are lining up to support Kamala Harris

Voters are eager to find out who Kamala Harris’ running mate pick will be—and US Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona is among the frontrunners.

Vice President Kamala Harris is the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, and local organizers feel a surge of enthusiasm that they say has been missing from the election cycle.

Contrail Davis, a 19-year-old working with Our Voice Our Vote Arizona, said Harris’ relative youth and ability to more effectively communicate her campaign’s positions have gotten people more and more interested in the 2024 election.

“I think there’s an increase in enthusiasm,” Davis said. “Harris has immediately started campaigning. It’s a lot of young women and men around my age I see supporting her.”

Davis said Harris’ experience working so close to the Oval Office already is useful, and shows she’s capable and ready to do the job.

He added that two of the major issues younger people trust her with more than the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, are protecting reproductive and voting rights.

“I’ve seen her saying that men shouldn’t be making decisions on women’s bodies,” Davis said.

Polling shows that many people in Arizona agree with that stance, along with 63% of all Americans who believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases.

Arizonans will likely have the opportunity to constitutionally protect abortion this November through a citizen-led ballot initiative.

READ MORE: Arizona lawmakers sued for using biased language in voter pamphlet

Even if Arizona voters decide to constitutionally protect abortion here in the state, experts predict that a second Trump presidency would still spell disaster for reproductive rights nationwide. A federal ban would be at odds with the law in many states.

That could result in a showdown at the US Supreme Court, with justices who didn’t hesitate to overturn Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision in 2022, which removed federal abortion protections and sent the issue back to the states.

“In Arizona we’re trying to get out the vote so people know that reproductive rights are available [starting] with November,” Davis said.

In the meantime, voters are eager to find out who Harris’ pick for a vice presidential running mate will be. Among a list of frontrunners, US Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona is a local favorite.

Soon after the shortlist was revealed, Our Voice Our Vote Arizona, LUCHA, and Activate 48 all gave a joint endorsement of Kelly.

“We strongly believe Senator Mark Kelly should be considered for the position as Vice President, and we encourage the national Democratic Party to rally behind a Harris-Kelly ticket,” the organizations said in a statement, and Davis agreed.

“I think Captain Mark Kelly would be a great option for this role,” he said. “First of all, he’s an Arizona native, he’s a former Navy combat pilot, and a NASA astronaut. He’s really great.”

Kelly, a Democrat, was elected in 2020 to fill the Senate seat of Republican John McCain, who died in office. Kelly’s wife Gabby Giffords is a former Arizona Congresswoman who was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011.

Throughout history, four Arizonans have run for president: Mo Udall and Bruce Babbitt ran in the Democratic primaries in 1976 and 1988, respectively. Barry Goldwater lost to Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and John McCain lost to Barack Obama in 2008.

If Kamala Harris were to select Kelly as her running mate, he would be in a strong position  should he decide to be the fifth Arizonan to try for the Oval Office.

Photo from Our Voice Our Vote Arizona.

Regardless of who she selects to join her on the ticket, Vice President Harris has young people mobilizing behind her.

“Our goal is to knock on 1 million doors by Nov. 5. It takes a community to get that done,” Davis said.

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