Border could be hardest issue for VP Kamala Harris to win Arizona voters on, Valley political expert says

PHOENIX — Vice President Kamala Harris is now the leading Democratic candidate ahead of the general election in November.

President Joe Biden stepped out of his reelection campaign over the weekend, endorsing Harris as his pick for the office.

However, she still has to earn the party nomination at the Democratic National Convention, which starts on Aug. 19 in Chicago.

That means she’ll have to win over Democratic delegates across the U.S.

She won’t have an easy time courting Arizonans who are passionate about border issues, according to political expert Stacy Pearson with Phoenix-based Lumen Strategies.

“That’s going to be one of her hardest hills to climb,” Pearson told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Monday. “We all know the border has been a disaster but it’s not a disaster that just President Biden created.”

If Harris wants to charm voters who count immigration as one of their top concerns, she’ll need a game plan, Pearson added.

“She’s going to have to come to the table, particularly in Arizona, and talk about better technology,” she said.

Voters want more Border Patrol agents, better technology and faster migrant processing, Pearson said.

“I think very quickly she’s going to be able to put those talking points together and deliver to Arizonans,” she said.

Harris has also targeted swing state Arizona as a place of interest, especially due to its volatile abortion laws. She visited Phoenix in June for a reproductive freedom campaign event.

How would Kamala Harris fare against Donald Trump?

Pearson believes Harris will perform well against Trump on the presidential debate stage.

Although Biden’s performance in his debate against Trump triggered worries about his mental acuity, the former Republican president also has said strange things on the campaign trail, Pearson said.

For instance, Trump once referred to “the late great Hannibal Lecter,” a fictional cannibal, as a wonderful guy. More recently, Trump went on a tangent about sharks and boat batteries.

“He often lacks the discipline to stay coherent, and Kamala Harris certainly doesn’t have that problem,” Pearson said.

Harris’ age will also be a point in her favor.

“It’s also going to be remarkable to compare her age at under 60 to former President Trump,” Pearson said.

Trump is currently 78 years old — only three years younger than Biden. Harris, meanwhile, is 59.

Harris also may also reach out to younger voters who were disenfranchised by their presidential choices back when Biden was in the race.

“Democrats had two opponents going into this. First was former president Trump, and the second was apathy,” Pearson said. “There was a large swath of the electorate that just didn’t want either of those guys.”

Meanwhile, she’s seeing younger voters like her daughter — who previously hated politics — perk up when Harris is mentioned, Pearson said.

“We’ve solved the apathy problem, I think.”