Laura Banuet, a former LAX cashier, was outraged by the Supreme Court's decision to end federal protection of abortion access.
Recalling women, including a cousin, who risked clandestine abortions in her native Mexico, Banuet moved from Compton to Arizona earlier this year to try to make a difference in a battleground state where the latest campaign presidential was decided by 0.3% of the votes. .
“I didn't want to stay angry at home,” she said. “I decided to do something about it.”
Gripping a smooth stone in his fist so as not to bruise his knuckles, Banuet, 62, spends several hours every day, five days a week, knocking on doors in Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs.
Some days, the temperature has topped 110 degrees as he urges voters to support Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego and local candidates, as well as a state constitutional amendment to allow abortion up to point of fetal viability.
Californians like Banuet, who hope to boost Harris' presidential bid, acknowledge they may have little impact on the White House race in the Golden State, given its lean toward cobalt blue.
Pollster José Manuel speaks with a resident of Glendale, Arizona, about the Democratic options for the upcoming elections.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
California voters last supported a Republican for the White House in 1988. Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1, according to voter registration data released by the Secretary of State's office in September.
Many are headed to Arizona and Nevada, nearby swing states that are expected to be critical in the tight presidential race between Harris and former President Trump, as well as in U.S. Senate races that could determine control of that body.
President Biden won Arizona in 2020 by 10,457 votes in a state of nearly 4.4 million registered voters, so influencing a small number of voters in the state's congressional districts could make a difference.
Banuet is among approximately 300 campaigners in Arizona who are paid for their efforts by Unite Here Local 11, a union that represents more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona.
The group also has more than 300 volunteers, mostly Californians, and aims to knock on more than 1.3 million doors in Arizona, the largest on-the-ground effort here by an organization not affiliated with a candidate committee, he said. Susan Minato, union representative. co-president.
Voters arrive on the first day of in-person early voting at City Hall in Surprise, Arizona, on October 9.
(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
They are focusing on low-propensity voters of color, particularly Latinos, as well as suburbanites, particularly women, Minato said.
“People sometimes have two jobs, sometimes they've lost faith in the political system, so maybe they don't believe that voting is really going to accomplish that much,” he said, adding that face-to-face interactions with pollsters who Share Similar life experiences can be more meaningful than typical campaign communications.
“Most people are so inundated with text messages, emails, commercials and literature that it's like, 'Wow. How can I get over this? So sometimes having that one-on-one conversation is especially helpful,” Minato said.
In the final months of the campaign, other Californians volunteer to knock on doors in Arizona and Nevada on quick, grueling trips.
In the Los Angeles area, weekend caravans typically gather at dawn on Saturday for a trip that lasts hours and return late the next night. Volunteers typically receive a hotel room for one night and some meals, which are paid for by the Harris campaign, Democratic elected officials or unions.
Paloma Corona, of Palms, woke up at 4 a.m. Saturday to board a charter bus to Las Vegas with a group of volunteers from the Service Employees International Union. After arriving, Corona and two other volunteers were sent to a largely Latino neighborhood in east Las Vegas. A mobile application directed them to voters' homes to come over, although many were not home or did not open their doors.
Pollsters can't legally leave literature in mailboxes, so they tucked in SEIU's purple and white fliers, printed in English and Spanish, touting Harris, her running mate Tim Walz and Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen as “advocates.” of workers”, in Security doors and wrought iron gates.
Corona decided to join SEIU's canvassing efforts after Harris entered the race. Now that a California woman is running for president, she said, the way she talks about politics with her daughters has changed.
“I'm telling them that they could be president too,” Corona said. And, as a child care provider, she said she appreciates Harris talking about the rising cost of child care.
Shemika Pecot, who also traveled to Las Vegas from California last weekend, said she wanted to help Harris win in a state where a Democratic victory is not as assured as in the Golden State. After his long trip to Las Vegas, the Vons worker joined more than 100 volunteers to fuel up on breakfast burritos and pick up snacks, water and electrolytes in the parking lot of the Nevada AFL-CIO before hitting the sidewalk to promote Harris.
The Paramount resident, who has two daughters and three granddaughters, said she cares deeply about reproductive rights, as well as electing leaders who support unions.
“We need to make sure we have people in power who understand the working class,” Pecot said. “Unfortunately, that is no longer a fact.”
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell organized a bus of 45 volunteers from South Los Angeles to go to Las Vegas over the weekend, one of the 26 that brought Californians to Nevada organized by the Harris campaign. unions and the black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, of which Harris was a member, Kamlager-Dove said.
Californians “can send resources to other states that need them. What we have is human capital,” Kamlager-Dove said. “We're in this because she's a California girl, and I think we're in this because no one wants to remake the Trump administration, especially when he's becoming even more unhinged, crumbling and insecure. When you have already voted and you know you are in a Democratic state, the next thing you should do is talk to your friends and neighbors in neighboring states and encourage them to vote too.”
Trump supporters in California are also reaching out to voters in swing states, for example by phone using mobile apps. But there is a less visible public presence of California Republicans trying to personally influence voters in states that will likely determine control of the White House.
The Trump and Harris campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
The former president leads Harris by 1.5 percentage points in an average of recent polls in Arizona conducted by Real Clear Politics. The closeness of the race was evident during a recent sweltering weekend as surveyors were handed plastic coolers filled with water bottles and ice, as well as electrolytes and snacks, before heading into the neighborhoods of Phoenix and nearby communities.
José Manuel Cahuantzi, 40, a former bartender at a hotel near Disneyland in Anaheim, visited registered voters, mostly Democrats, in Glendale.
When Larry Stump answered his front door, Cahuantzi introduced himself and asked what he thought about Harris, Gallego and a local minimum wage proposal for hotel workers. After the 77-year-old expressed his disdain, Cahuantzi asked him why he didn't support Harris.
“No way. Do I look like a communist? I'm a Democrat and I wouldn't vote for Harris or Gallego, Stump said. “No, no, she's an idiot. … Trump was a great president. I could change parties and become a Republican. The Democratic Party sucks. I'm sorry. Trump was good. I'll talk to you later.”
Cahuantzi said the interaction was more polite than some he has experienced with voters who oppose the Democratic nomination. And other meetings were more positive.
When Banuet knocked on Regina Knox-Dixon's door in Goodyear, she woke the retiree in the middle of a nap. But after Banuet explained that she was gauging support for Harris, Gallego and state legislative candidates, she had the 64-year-old's full attention.
After Knox-Dixon expressed her support for Democrats, she was effusive in her appreciation for Banuet's efforts.
“Girl, thank you very much. We have a tough road ahead of us, we really do. But if we don't stick together, it's going to be difficult,” the former Department of Corrections hearing officer said. “This is necessary. This is really necessary. It is, and it continues to do so. Thank you.”
Mehta reported from Phoenix, Nelson from Las Vegas.
