Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz speaks to a crowd at the Mesa Convention Center during a campaign stop Tuesday. (Photo by Emma Jeanson/Cronkite News)
MESA – Vowing to prioritize reproductive rights and help fix the “epidemic” of mass shootings in the United States, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz rode a wave of energy at the Mesa Convention Center Tuesday during a campaign stop that preceded Vice President Kamala Harris’ debate with former President Donald Trump.
“No matter what he says, he will ban abortion,” Walz said. “He may try and change from hour to hour, but guess what, women don’t trust him.”
Walz used his brief stage time to condemn Trump, echoing many of the viewpoints Harris addressed during the debate. He showed disdain for Project 2025, which Trump claimed Tuesday night he has no affiliation with. Walz singled out Trump’s commitment to cutting taxes for wealthy individuals “while screwing the middle class,” called imposing a national sales tax “a ridiculous tariff” and questioned the former president’s decision to clear out experts in government while opting for his “loyalists” instead.
As much as Walz hit on freedom of choice with health care and reproductive rights, he also made clear his stance on gun control in the wake of the Georgia school mass shooting last week that killed four people.
“I know guns. I’m a veteran and I’m a hunter,” Walz said. “But I will not allow them to make this about the Second Amendment when our first responsibility is to the safety of our children.”
Walz also challenged Trump on election interference and what he sees as an indifference from the Republican candidate about mass shootings in America, which was described by running mate J.D. Vance as a “fact of life.”
Tim Walz’s campaign stop in Mesa also doubles as a watch party for the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Tuesday. (Photo by Emma Jeanson/Cronkite News)
As both Walz and Harris talked Tuesday about expanding opportunities to start businesses and to own homes, Marco Meraz, owner of República Empanada restaurant in Mesa, spoke to the crowd before formally announcing Walz to the stage.
“I’m grateful to have been able to open a small business,” Meraz said, “a restaurant with my siblings and my hardworking parents, both of whom are immigrants.”
Meraz spoke of hard work and sacrifice by his parents to form the business. He said supporting the Harris-Walz campaign is a way “to continue to honor their legacy” because they believed in the American dream.
“Small businesses like ours across the country, collectively, are the backbone of this economy,” Meraz said.
Walz and Harris at the debate said Trump is using immigrants as scapegoats for crime in the U.S., as the former president has promised to conduct the biggest mass deportation of undocumented migrants in U.S. history.
Harris mentioned during the debate that she looks to revive the bipartisan border security deal that died in Congress earlier this year.
Julia Alexander, deputy organizing director of the Arizona Democratic Party, gave a simple reason for her unexpected participation in politics and called the enthusiasm surrounding the Harris campaign “intoxicating.”
“I do this because of the energy in groups like this,” Alexander said as she spoke to the spirited crowd a few moments before Walz took the stage. “Despite all of our different backgrounds, we are all here because we share the same values and the same vision for the future of this country.”
Once the time came for the debate to commence, the attendees in Mesa stood and watched in awe as Trump and Harris went at each other on the big screen, often leaving the realm of policy for scorn.
The attendees maligned most of the rhetoric coming from Trump, frequently laughing and jeering. Harris’ rhetoric was mostly met with applause and cheers.
Brad Carter, 35, who was born and raised in Mesa, compared the event to anticipation for a midnight theater showing of a popular movie.
Carter remembers going to a political event at a young age, which helped to spark his curiosity for this one.
“My mom took us to the Bob Dole rally at like 6 a.m., and so this seemed like an interesting and kind of rare thing to do,” Carter said. Dole was the Republican nominee for president in 1996 but lost the race to Bill Clinton.
Carter said Walz wasn’t defined by his ownership of “stocks or real estate” and feels that Harris aligns with his political ideals more than Trump. He also acknowledged “she’s not quite as left” as he would like her to be and expressed concern over her “campaign promises,” which Trump also firmly criticized during the debate.
“It was just a copy and paste from Joe Biden, so that was kind of awkward,” Carter said.
Jill Benza, principal of Shepherd Junior High School in Mesa, was excited to attend the Walz event with her mother but also nervous about the election.
“I think we can win the whole thing,” Benza said. “But I am concerned that every time I drive down the street, there are more signs for the other guy than for our team.”
Benza appreciates Harris’ work in the past four years as vice president, as well as her attention on women’s reproductive rights and the middle class.
“I’m a single parent, and when I look at what I’m doing and what I have to pay for, I love some of their plans that would be able to help me and my family,” Benza said.
Education and raising the child tax credit are important talking points for Benza, as well as positivity about the future of America.
“That’s what they are bringing back to campaigning,” Benza said. “The positive side. I like that they are not saying horrible things about people, or standing up there and saying outright lies.”
