Democratic voters, elected officials and candidates from Yuma County and across Arizona gathered in San Luis last week and expressed new enthusiasm, saying they were excited to be able to vote across the board for Democratic candidates.
The town hall at the Regional Border Health Center Medical Mall in San Luis was part of a tour by the Arizona Democratic Party to visit all 15 counties with Democratic candidates to listen to voters and urge their help in voting in November.
Democrats in Yuma County and Arizona, and other Democrats across the country, were a little less enthusiastic a month ago, but with President Joe Biden dropping out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the nominee, their spirits have brightened again.
“I'm very enthusiastic,” voter Jay Powers told KAWC. “I think we have a great lineup of candidates. The opposition is doing some pretty stupid things that show who they are and what they think of the people, and it's going to put us in a terrible downward spiral.”
The San Luis rally came before Harris announced last week that she would pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Still, party officials in Arizona say they are prepared to remind voters that Democrats are fighting for their voters and their rights, not Donald Trump.
“So many people are registering to vote, volunteering and doing whatever they can to help us win this November,” Yolanda Bejarano, chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, told KAWC. “There's so much energy and enthusiasm. So many people are joining us and it's so exciting.”
Democratic candidates who spoke to voters at the San Luis town hall were Emilia Cortez, who was elected as a nominee for Yuma County Recorder; Matias Rosales, a current San Luis City Council member who is running for Congress from Arizona's 23rd Congressional District; and Quacey Smith, who is challenging U.S. Representative Paul Gosar and Arizona Corporation Commission candidates Ylenia Aguilar, Joshua Polachek and Jonathan Hill.
A media representative for the Arizona Democratic Party said a town hall meeting in La Paz County is in the planning stages.
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KAWC will be hearing from voters and Arizona Democratic Party leaders and candidates as part of our election coverage.
