Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, and there are 34 seats up for grabs Tuesday, with a key in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is facing off against Republican challenger Kari Lake.
Latinos make up about a quarter of eligible voters in the Grand Canyon State, a demographic both candidates are targeting.
“They largely feel left out of politics,” Gallego told CBS News. “And we’re talking to them about bringing politics back to them.”
Polls have shown Gallego, a Marine veteran, consistently leading Lake, a former local television anchor, in the closely-watched race, despite polls also showing former President Donald Trump holding a narrow lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in the state.
“So a lot of these Republicans are crossing over support because they’ve known me, they work for me, and they just don’t like the extremism of Kari Lake,” Gallego said. “There is also the fact that I am a Latino Marine.”
Gallego believes that Harris can help her case in Arizona by continuing to emphasize “her economic plan” and by talking about the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
“Latino men are very patriotic,” Gallego said. “They understand what happened on Jan. 6.”
Lake, a MAGA firebrand, has focused her campaign on voter angst over inflation and immigration.
“We are at ground zero for the border crisis with an open border. Frankly, the economy, it’s made the cost of living just really unaffordable here in Arizona, and we also are seeing crime increase on our streets,” Lake told reporters this week.
Lake got help Saturday from Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump’s running mate, as the two held a rally in Scottsdale.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also lobbied voters in Tucson Saturday, as the Harris campaign has rushed supply boxes to volunteers statewide hoping to knock on close to 200,000 doors before election day in an effort to close the gap.