Arizona, a state that went for the Republicans in 2008 and 2012, is starting to shift towards Democrat Hillary Clinton with little more than a dozen days remaining in the election. Senator John McCain won his home state by eight-and-a-half percentage points while Governor Mitt Romney won the state by nine percentage points.
Both of Arizona’s Senators have backed away from Trump. Senator Jeff Flake (R) has not associated himself with Trump while McCain backed away from Trump after the tape of Trump discussing sexual harassment with Billy Bush was released.
Trump’s struggles may be explained by the demographics of Arizona. The state has a significant Hispanic population and Trump has earned the ire of Hispanic voters with his comments regarding Mexican immigrants. Arizona is also home to a large community of Mormon voters. Trump has struggled with Mormon voters which is in part why ruby red Utah has become a toss-up state.
Two polls from October show Clinton in the lead. The poll from the Arizona Republic shows Clinton ahead by five percentage points while Emerson shows the former Secretary of State ahead by two percentage points.
The Clinton campaign is also moving to seize on the positive momentum. First Lady Michelle Obama was in the state on Thursday and told voters to remember how close the race was. “Only about 63 votes per precinct,” she said. The room fell silent before she said, “Yeah, just take that in.”