Kamala Harris steps up outreach to Latter-day Saint voters in battleground Arizona

Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her efforts to triumph complete voters who beryllium to nan Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, enlisting salient members of nan religion to make nan lawsuit successful pivotal Arizona that Donald Trump does not align pinch nan church’s values.

Her authorities run announced connected Thursday an advisory committee to formalize nan outreach to existent and erstwhile members of nan church, wide known arsenic nan Mormon church.

With astir 450,000 religion members successful Arizona, astir 6% of nan state’s population, Latter-day Saints and erstwhile religion members could beryllium captious successful what will apt beryllium an highly adjacent race.

Latter-day Saints person traditionally voted Republican and are apt to stay portion of nan GOP coalition. Clustered successful solidly Republican states, they person agelong been a awesome unit successful GOP primaries and section authorities crossed nan West, but they person not held overmuch sway successful nationalist elections. In 2020, astir 7 successful 10 Mormon voters nationally supported Trump, according to AP VoteCast, while astir one-quarter backed Democrat Joe Biden.

Core to Harris’ strategy is preventing Trump from moving up large margins pinch demographic groups that favour him. While she is improbable to triumph thing adjacent to a mostly of Latter-day Saints, picking up a mini stock of their votes would make a large quality successful a authorities pinch a caller history of tight elections. Biden won by conscionable nether 10,500 votes successful 2020. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes won by conscionable 280 successful 2022.

Latter-day Saints supporting Harris successful Arizona make a faith-based entreaty for backing nan Democratic summons contempt immoderate reservations, pointing to religion school that nan U.S. Constitution is divinely inspired.

“The Constitution is simply a tenet of our faith, and we surely shouldn’t beryllium voting for group who person shown a disdain for it,” said Joel John, a erstwhile Republican authorities lawmaker who will service arsenic a co-chair of nan committee. “And we surely shouldn’t beryllium supporting personification who tried to overthrow it connected Jan. 6.”

The Salt Lake City-based religion does not endorse candidates aliases governmental parties, but John said Latter-day Saints are encouraged to elite politicians who are “good, honorable and wise.” He said those are civilized traits that Trump lacks and that transcend immoderate argumentation differences they mightiness person pinch Harris, specified arsenic her economical plans aliases position connected weapon rights.

Halee Dobbins, a spokesperson for nan Republican National Committee, said Democrats person “allowed progressive policies to erode accepted values.”

“President Trump has consistently stood pinch believers by protecting belief institutions, appointing constitutionalist Justices, and defending Christian values nationally and abroad,” Dobbins said successful a statement. “He has made it a privilege to protect belief communities, not conflict against them.”

While galore conservative-leaning belief voters warmed to him agelong ago, Trump has struggled to triumph complete Latter-day Saints. For galore members of nan church, Trump’s penchant for foul connection and demeaning rhetoric toward women and group of colour clashes pinch nan church’s values of humility, morality and compassion.

It has not helped that Trump has feuded pinch U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, among nan champion known members of nan church, and erstwhile U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

In Arizona, Latter-day Saints dress up an outsize stock of nan organization successful metro Phoenix’s East Valley, a suburban area wherever ticket-splitting voters person rejected Trump-backed Republicans, helping to push a reliable GOP authorities into a battleground. Mesa, Arizona’s third-largest metropolis pinch much than 500,000 people, traces its modern history to a colony founded by pioneers from nan religion successful nan 1800s.
Church members besides settled successful swaths of agrarian Arizona and their descendants stay profoundly rooted there.

Democratic efforts to woo Latter-day Saints are not new. Hillary Clinton successful 2016 drew parallels betwixt Trump’s promise to extremity Muslim migration and nan history of belief persecution against Latter-day Saints. Biden went further 4 years later, investing successful organizing religion members arsenic Harris is trying to do now.

The “social expectation” for members of nan religion to align pinch conservatives is strong, but Harris has an opening successful peculiar to triumph complete younger Latter-day Saints, who, for illustration nan state astatine large, are much diverse, said Brittany Romanello, an anthropologist and post-doctoral chap astatine Arizona State University. Her investigation includes civilization and personality of Latter-day Saints.

“Mormons person been shown to person this cognition that they aren’t conscionable voting based connected statement affiliation only,” said Romanello, who was raised successful nan religion but is nary longer practicing. “They’re voting based connected morals.”