Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has received critical endorsements from the mayors of some of the largest towns on the Arizona–Mexico border.
The Harris campaign confirmed she was supported by mayors of Bisbee, Nogales, Somerton, and San Luis, Arizona, all of which are relatively big towns on the southern border. The news comes as Republicans and former President Donald Trump are trying to pin President Joe Biden’s border policies on Harris for her role in his administration as the “border czar.”
“I trust her to meet the needs of border cities and towns without taking advantage of us for her own political gain, like her opponent,” Somerton Mayor Gerardo Anaya said in a statement.
The border mayors do not have a political affiliation, but all represent blue-leaning cities. Anaya and San Luis Mayor Nieves Riedel are also backing Rep. Ruben Gallego’s (D-AZ) Senate bid.
On Monday, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona, John Giles, endorsed Harris. In his endorsement, Giles evoked the late Sen. John McCain’s “country over party.”
“Arizona leaders like McCain and Sen. Mark Kelly have embodied the commitment to country over party,” Giles wrote in an op-ed published Monday in the Arizona Republic. “And it’s that same high caliber of character and leadership I see in Vice President Harris.”
In her capacity as vice president, Harris was tasked with overseeing diplomatic efforts to mitigate problems in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that resulted in migration to the United States.
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Since launching his first presidential bid in 2015, Trump has put immigration and border security issues at the forefront of his campaign. The Republican presidential nominee’s campaign recently released an ad attacking Harris’s moves on the border.
“This is America’s Border Czar, and she has failed us,” the narrator in the ad says, concluding with “Kamala Harris. Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal.”
