Second gentleman Emhoff to visit Arizona as Biden uncertainty continues

As speculation swirls around whether Vice President Kamala Harris could replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, second gentleman Doug Emhoff will visit Arizona Friday to campaign and catch the beginning of the WNBA All-Star Weekend.

Emhoff returns to battleground Arizona at a time when the Biden campaign – and his role within it – are in flux. The president faces serious pressure to end his reelection bid from major figures in the party, including former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In Arizona, two Democratic members of Congress have called on Biden to step aside and a third said Biden "needs to prove" that he's up for the job.

Biden supporters brushed off questions about his political future during a news conference ahead of Trump’s address Thursday evening to the Republican National Convention. But some 2,300 miles away from Biden's field office in Tempe, Washington was swirling with speculation about whether the president's campaign would last the weekend.

“Aren’t the second family great?” said Wes Gullett, a Republican who is supporting Biden and served as state director to the late Sen. John McCain. Gullett said Biden is a “good man” who will “make the right decision” about his candidacy.

“It’s up to him,” Gullett said.

Biden has insisted he will stay in the race, but Democrats fear the embattled president is letting his chance of winning Arizona slip away after a narrow victory in the state in 2020. A new Emerson College poll released on Thursday showed Biden 10 percentage points behind former President Donald Trump in Arizona when third-party candidates are factored into the race.

“He is not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times we can answer that. Joe Biden has said he is running for president of the United States,” Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said at a news conference in Milwaukee on Thursday. “There are no plans being made to replace President Biden on the ballot.”

Losing ground: Democrats worry Arizona may ‘slip away’ from an embattled Joe Biden

The Biden campaign expects the 2024 election to be a “margin of error race in all the battleground states,” Fulks added, and said that the campaign is focusing on staffing up and opening offices in those crucial locations.

That’s exactly why Emhoff is coming to Arizona this week, Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo said.

“We are a battleground state. You're going to see a number of high-profile elected officials like the second gentleman continue to come to Arizona, and it’s a constant reminder of what’s at stake,” Gallardo said. “That’s what it’s about. It’s what’s at stake, what happens if Donald Trump wins?”

During his visit to Arizona on Friday, Emhoff will meet with Black leaders in Scottsdale to “emphasize the dangers of Donald Trump’s and MAGA Republicans’ Project 2025 agenda and what’s at stake for Black Arizonans this presidential election.”

Attendees will include Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams, Arizona Black Chamber of Commerce Vice Chair Ryan Garlington, Phoenix City Councilor Kesha Hodge Washington and Arizona Coalition for Change Executive Director Sena Mohammed.

After that, Emhoff will mark the opening of the Biden-Harris campaign’s 12th field office in Phoenix alongside Mayor Kate Gallego. Several Arizona elected officials will be on hand, including state Sen. Christine Marsh, state Rep. Judy Schwiebert and Phoenix Board of Supervisors candidate Daniel Valenzuela.

Kamala Harris: A familiar face in battleground Arizona as Biden political drama unfolds

The second gentleman will then head to Tempe to promote Biden administration efforts to improve public transportation and tour the Valley Metro Streetcar Line.

Rounding out his visit, Emhoff will attend the WNBA All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest at the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix.

Although Emhoff’s trip comes at a particularly fraught time for the Biden campaign, Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia said everyday Arizonans aren’t worried about the “drama” unfolding in Washington.

Plus, voters are used to seeing Harris and Emhoff in the state, she added. The vice president has been to Arizona six times since she took office and Emhoff came to Phoenix just a few months ago.

“They are not focused on this ‘when, if, how, what if’ drama,” Garcia said. “The vice president has been here, they’ve been investing in this state for months. This is not new.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Doug Emhoff to visit Arizona as Biden campaign uncertainty continues