Joe Biden’s campaign ‘bullish on Arizona’ in quest for White House
May 15, 2020, 4:00 PM
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Arizona tops Joe Biden’s wishlist of states that went for President Donald Trump in 2016, the Democratic candidate’s campaign manager said Friday.
“I’m bullish on Arizona,” Jen O’Malley Dillon told reporters during an online presentation, according to Buzzfeed.
The Biden campaign considers Arizona, which Trump won in 2016 by 3.5 percentage points, a potential “expansion state” along with Georgia and Texas.
“This is something that we are very, very focused on,” O’Malley Dillon said. “We believe that there will be battleground states that have never been battleground states before.”
Local polling backs up the former vice president’s aspirations in the Grand Canyon State.
Biden held a 52%-43% lead over Trump in a poll of likely Arizona voters conducted by Phoenix-based OH Predictive Insights last month.
However, the president’s supporters were more fired up, with nearly three-quarters classifying themselves as “extremely enthusiastic” about their candidate compared to 60% of Biden supporters.
Jill Biden, the vice president’s wife, participated in virtual events with Arizona groups on Thursday.
Gracias a @TucsonRomero for hosting our first “Charla con Biden” this morning! It was wonderful to (virtually) visit with you and such strong Latina leaders in Tucson. #TodosconBiden pic.twitter.com/jVq2ZaBbqN
— Dr. Jill Biden (@DrBiden) May 14, 2020
Biden’s campaign is also focusing on defending Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire and Virginia and trying to win back Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to Buzzfeed.
“We are pulling ahead in Florida, in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Wisconsin and in Arizona, and if we kept these numbers and we kept them through November, that’d put us at 318 electoral votes,” O’Malley Dillon said.