President Joe Biden to visit Phoenix the day of Arizona’s presidential preference election
President Joe Biden will visit Phoenix on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of an effort to mobilize voters in battleground states, his campaign told The Arizona Republic.
His two-day visit will coincide with Arizona’s presidential preference election on Tuesday, March 19.
The trip comes as Biden faces a protest vote effort from Arizona progressives over his handling of Israel’s military actions in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza and a week after he and former President Donald Trump clinched their parties' 2024 nominations with wins in Tuesday's round of primary elections.
Arizona is considered one of the most competitive states in this year’s presidential election. In 2020, Biden defeated his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, in Arizona by less than half a percentage point.
Biden’s campaign has for months been working to replicate that success this year, building out a campaign apparatus in Arizona and sending a parade of White House surrogates through the Grand Canyon State.
Harris visited Flagstaff in October as part of a tour to mobilize young voters, and she delivered a speech in Phoenix last week to criticize Republican-led efforts to restrict abortion. Biden visited Tempe in September to announce a new library honoring the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. First lady Jill Biden visited Tucson earlier this month for an event centered on abortion rights.
Biden's visit to Arizona next week is part of a monthlong tour that will send the president, Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff through battleground states, according to a statement from the Biden campaign.
Last week alone, that tour took the president through Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin. He will visit Michigan on Thursday.
The campaign did not release additional details about the focus or agenda of Biden’s visit.
Laura Gersony covers national politics for the Arizona Republic. Reach her at [email protected] or 480-372-0389.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: President Joe Biden to visit Phoenix on Tuesday and Wednesday
