More than 20 million people have tuned into the Democratic National Convention this week—and if the Kamala Harris campaign has their way, no Arizonan will be watching the final night alone.
More than 30 watch parties across Arizona are planned for Thursday night’s DNC convention, which will capstone the week with speeches ranging from US Sen. Mark Kelly to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Dan Kanninen, battleground state director for the Harris-Walz campaign, said they want to bring the Chicago event home for voters.
“This week will show voters who Vice President Kamala Harris is, from her record as a tough-as-nails prosecutor to her work delivering for working families, and how that stands in stark contrast with the dangers of another Donald Trump presidency,” Kanninen said. “This campaign is taking nothing for granted, doing the hard work to reach the battleground state voters who will decide this election.”
In addition to events all across Maricopa County—including six in Phoenix alone—watch parties are planned in Coolidge, Flagstaff, Kingman, Nogales, Prescott, Sierra Vista, and Tucson. Many will feature local Democratic officials and figures, like Congressional candidate Yassamin Ansari and Jonathan Nez, Arizona Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, and officials from Pima and Coconino counties.
Those interested in attending can find the watch party nearest to them through the Arizona Democratic Party’s event page. Additional events are planned in Mesa and Phoenix in coordination with the Human Rights Campaign.
The string of in-person events is part of an effort to continue building momentum the campaign has seen since Harris became the presumed presidential nominee in late July. More than 15,000 people showed up to her rally in Glendale, Arizona, a monumental feat that prompted Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to quickly schedule a competing rally at the same venue.
So far, the in-person energy has translated into tangible results: 3,000 people who attended Harris’ rally in Glendale signed up as volunteers, and nearly 30,000 Arizonans have registered to volunteer for Harris since mid-July. These volunteers have in turn reached out an average of 10,000 voters every weekend, either by phone or in person.
