Both parties court Navajo voters in battleground Arizona
Source: CNN Politics
Published 2:00 PM EDT, Sat September 14, 2024
Window Rock, Arizona CNN — Nearing the end of the annual Navajo Nation parade route last Saturday, the Arizona Republican Party’s float — pulled by an 18-wheeler and adorned with Trump-Vance campaign signs — came to a halt. Some parade watchers, who lined Highway 264 with their lawn chairs, began booing. “Get out of here,” one woman shouted. President Joe Biden won Arizona by just 10,000 votes – the first Democrat to do so since 1996 – and the state is once again a key battleground this year with Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascendance on the ticket seen as putting it back in play for Democrats.
The Navajo Nation makes up the largest tribe in Arizona, with about 131,000 members, according to the US Census. The presence of both parties at Saturday’s parade underscored the electoral importance of those tribe members, who could help make a difference not just in the race for the White House in Arizona, but in a key US Senate race that will shape the balance of power in Washington next year. For the first time in its history, the Arizona GOP set up a field office in Window Rock, the capital of Navajo Nation, according to state GOP chair Gina Swoboda. And last Sunday, the state party, along with the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee, hosted another field office opening in Flagstaff.
“Democrats are very comfortable that they own this vote bloc,” Swoboda told CNN after the parade. “And no one owns anybody, and no one has the right to expect your vote. They have to earn your vote.” Asked about the GOP’s reception at the parade, Swoboda said that it’s “important to not let that dissuade you” and that the Republican Party needs to be present in the community. “If the Nation itself said we don’t want you, that would be different. … I feel that it’s urgent to do the outreach, and we’re not going to stop. As long as we are welcome, we will continue to be here,” she said, adding that “there’s no vote that I’m going to leave on the table.”
But the Harris campaign in Arizona says it’s not taking any votes for granted. It opened a field office in northeast Apache Junction, closer to several reservations, plans to spend on media campaigns in both English and in the Navajo language on Tribal radio, and hold early vote events in the Navajo community.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/14/politics/navajo-voters-arizona-election/index.html
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