Navajo president, Arizona teacher rally behind Joe Biden at convention
Aug 18, 2020, 6:57 PM | Updated: Aug 19, 2020, 2:33 am
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Arizona teacher Marisol Garcia rallied behind Joe Biden during the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
Nez was one of many Democrats from across the country featured during the keynote address.
In a portion of the address in which speakers condemned President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Nez spoke of the stress plaguing families while “visiting parents and grandparents through the window of a nursing home, worrying all the time that they’ll get sick.”
“He’s looking out for himself,” Nez said of Trump.
During the roll call portion of the event in which Biden was formally nominated as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, Garcia cast 51 delegate votes for the former vice president on behalf of the Arizona Democratic Party.
“As an Arizona Latina, I proudly cast our votes: 29 for Bernie Sanders and 51 for our next president, Joe Biden,” she said.
Steve Gomez of Gilbert also spoke Tuesday night about his four-year-old son who had been born with a congenital heart condition.
Gomez’ son required a heart transplant — which was successfully performed and covered under the Affordable Care Act.
Sedona resident, former Republican and cancer survivor Jeff Jeans also spoke of the medical benefits of the ACA during the second night of the convention.
“I lost my voice and we put off going to the doctor because we didn’t have health insurance. When we finally got into somebody that could look at my throat, they said ‘… you’ve got cancer.”
Jeans’ wife then applied for coverage under the ACA and he was able to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment beginning April 1, 2012.
“It saved my life,” he said.
John McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, is also scheduled to speak on Biden’s behalf.
