(NewsNation) — Following the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, Trump is headed to critical swing state Arizona to try to sell voters on his economic message.
The latest polling from Decision Desk HQ shows an extraordinarily tight race, with Trump trailing but still within the margin of error. Both candidates are focusing on swing states following the debate, with Harris headed to North Carolina.
Trump will be in Tuscon, Arizona, Thursday afternoon for a rally where he is expected to hone in on key issues, including the economy.
That includes inflation, housing costs, housing shortages and the need for jobs, which Trump tried to hit on during the debate in Philadelphia.
“We’ve had a terrible economy because inflation has, which is really known to be a country-buster, it breaks up countries,” Trump said during the debate. “We have inflation like very few people have ever seen, probably the worst in our nation’s history. This has been a disaster for people, for the middle class but for every class.”
Another important thing Trump will try to accomplish in Arizona is winning over Latino voters. In 2024, 18% of Arizona Latinos will be voting in their first presidential election and 37% of the Arizona Latino electorate is new since the 2016 election.
In polls, the top three issues have been inflation and the cost of everyday goods, housing the ability to secure affordable living spaces and the need to bolster the economy with jobs. So that’s what Trump is expected to focus on.
Republicans have a history of doing well in Arizona, with the 2020 election and the 2022 midterm a bit of an exception in recent years. Currently, Trump and Harris are tied neck-and-neck in the state, with 11 electoral votes up for grabs.
Those votes alone are not necessarily enough to push Trump over that 270 benchmark that he has to hit to win the election, but if the state doesn’t go his way, it will indicate more of an uphill battle than he expected to be facing.
