“Here’s the good news,” Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz declared at a Tucson rally late Saturday afternoon. “We’re winning. We’re winning.”
“I didn’t say ‘we’ve won,’ because there’s still some work to be done,” the Minnesota governor added. “... It’s gonna be close. This thing very well could be won in the state of Arizona.”
He was speaking at about the same time a new poll came out suggesting Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris leads Republican former President Donald Trump 47% to 44% in Iowa, which Trump won solidly in 2016 and 2020. The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll received national attention.
Several publicly available polls continued to indicate Trump leads in the closely fought battleground state of Arizona, where both Trump and Harris campaigned Thursday in the Phoenix area. Walz did not mention any of the polls specifically.
Minnesota governor and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz gestures to the crowd as the takes the podium at a get out the vote rally at Tucson High School on Saturday, Nov. 2. A couple of hundred supporters turned out with just three days before Election Day.
Walz told the crowd of Harris supporters gathered at Tucson High School that if they’re stressed about Tuesday’s election and from riding the rollercoaster of who’s up, who’s down, “Instead of wringing your hands, ring some doorbells.”
“How damn happy will be you be and how great will it feel to turn on your TV and not see this guy again?” he said of Trump.
The crowd behind the lectern does the wave while waiting for the appearance of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz at a Get Out the Vote rally at Tucson High School on Nov. 2.
Noting that Trump said this week that he will “protect women whether they like it or not,” Walz said he and Harris “simply trust women” to make decisions and to have autonomy over their bodies.
“Arizona women will send a loud and clear message to Donald Trump on Nov. 5 — whether he likes it or not,” Walz said, delivering a crowd-pleasing line that brought laughs and led the audience to chant, “We’re not going back.”
A youngster waves a sign from the back of the stage as Walz appears at a Tucson High School rally on Nov. 2.
Walz’s stump speech, similar to one he gave in Tucson on Oct. 9, highlighted Harris-Walz campaign themes including:
- Lowering the cost of living partially by enacting a ban on price gouging at a time of record-setting corporate profits amid inflation.
- Cutting taxes for “a hundred million Americans,” including through providing child tax credits.
- Offering down-payment help for homebuyers (he said “for everyone,” neglecting this time to mention it would only be for first-time homebuyers).
- Adding home health care, vision and hearing assistance for Medicare recipients.
- “Upholding the Second Amendment while still upholding our first responsibility, to protect children.”
- Creating jobs; he said 370,000 have been created in Arizona during the administration of President Joe Biden and Harris. A fact check by Capitol Media Services after the speech found the number of private-sector jobs increased in Arizona between January 2021 and October 2024 by 373,800, according to data reported by the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.
As to how to pay for all that, Walz said only, “For starters, we can have Donald Trump pay his federal taxes for a change,” then laughed.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, left, and his wife, former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Tucson, make their way to the lectern to speak before the entrance of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz at a rally at Tucson High School on Nov. 2. Walz later said to open his speech that he "went into the 2006 class of Congress with Gabby Giffords. She's saving lives across the country with the work she's doing (against gun violence) and we owe her a debt of gratitude," he said.
“We have 75 hours to make an impact on the planet for decades to come,” Walz told voters at the Saturday rally, listing fighting climate change and showing “grace toward neighbors” among such impacts.
Without naming Trump in this statement, Walz said “the American experiment” is on the line due to an opponent he claimed wants to “overturn the Constitution” in favor of “a dictatorship.”
A woman thrusts her fist in the air at one of the comment from a speech by Minnesota governor and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz at a get out the vote rally at Tucson High School on Nov. 2.
“Momentum is on our side, but we take nothing for granted,” said Walz, who campaigned earlier Saturday in Flagstaff. “Arizona, win this thing for America.”
