Kamala Harris’ campaign is out with a new ad targeting Republican voters in the battleground state of Arizona that features the GOP mayor of Mesa saying that he is a “lifelong Republican” but he has “always put country over party.”
“I know Donald Trump’s second term would be all about himself. That’s why, like so many other Republicans, I cannot support Donald Trump. Kamala Harris and I may not agree on everything, but I do know that she will always put country first,” says Mayor John Giles, who is also the Arizona Republicans for Harris advisory committee chair.
The new spot, shared first with POLITICO, is part of the Harris campaign’s $370 million advertising buy between Labor Day and Election Day and will begin airing on Monday on local Arizona broadcasts and networks including Fox News Channel, among other cable programs, according to the Harris campaign.
The ad featuring the Republican mayor of Mesa is part of the Harris campaign’s broader outreach to GOP voters in the state.
Last week, a Wall Street Journal poll found that the race is tight in Arizona with 47 percent of voters supporting Harris and 45 percent of voters supporting Trump. But while Harris has the support of 96 percent of Democrats, Trump only has the support of 88 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning voters, according to the poll. Eight percent of Republicans surveyed said they would vote for Harris.
The Harris campaign is targeting similar voters in Pennsylvania, where they recently launched ads aimed at winning over Trump-wary Republican and independent voters. In one of the ads, lifelong Republicans Bob and Kristina Lange explain that “January 6 was a wake up call.”
In August, the Harris campaign established a Republicans for Harris-Walz Advisory Committee focused on outreach to disaffected Republican voters with offshoots in battleground states like Arizona.
Last week, the vice president and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, campaigned with Giles and Jimmy McCain, the son of the late Sen. John McCain, who Trump has ridiculed and attacked but remains an important figure in a state that was once home to the Republican political establishment.
During Harris’ swing through Arizona last week, she repeatedly praised John McCain and recalled serving in the Senate with him.
“John McCain stood on principle, he stood on a belief in the importance of patriotism, of sacrifice, and of what we stand for as a country,” Harris said.
Other prominent Republicans who have endorsed Harris, include former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, former Rep. Liz Cheney, and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Giles spoke at the Democratic National Convention and joined other Republicans on stage supporting Harris, like former Illinois congressmember Adam Kinzinger, former lieutenant governor of Georgia Geoff Duncan, and former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
Harris has said she would like to place a Republican in a potential Cabinet, and on Friday she announced her plan to form a President’s Council on Bipartisan Solutions made up of Republican and Democratic public officials and business leaders to recommend policy ideas.
“We need a healthy two-party system, we have to have a healthy two-party system, we have to,” Harris said. “It’s in the best interest of all of us.”
