Abortion, border dominate US Senate race in battleground Arizona

By Ted Hesson

GOLDEN VALLEY, Arizona (Reuters) - A restrictive abortion ban revived in Arizona is providing a new opening for Democrats in the runup to the Nov. 5 election and putting Republicans in a tricky political bind as they try to win over moderates in the battleground state.

U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, the leading Democratic candidate in a closely watched U.S. Senate race, has criticized Republican former President Donald Trump for paving the way for the Arizona Supreme Court last week to reinstate a near-total abortion ban based on an 1864 law written during the U.S. Civil War and when women lacked the right to vote.

The top Republican candidate in the race, former television newscaster Kari Lake, once praised the 1864 law, a stance Gallego highlighted in a new digital ad this week. Lake has since reversed her position and has spoken with Arizona lawmakers about overturning it, an adviser said.

Lake did not address abortion during her speech, however, and instead focused on Democratic President Joe Biden's handling of border security and other Republican priorities on Saturday outside a restaurant in Golden Valley, Arizona, in the state's staunchly conservative northwest corner.

Roughly 100 people gathered to hear Lake speak at Great American Pizza and Subs, an establishment that greets visitors outside with a mural promoting Trump's re-election campaign and inside with Trump-themed art and patriotic decor. A local group raffled off an assault rifle beforehand.

Lake blasted Biden's approach to border security as record numbers of migrants have been caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally during his presidency. She ripped Gallego for calling Trump's border wall "stupid" in 2017.

"My first act as U.S. senator will be to write a short piece of legislation that fully funds the border wall and expedites the construction immediately," Lake said to cheers.

Arizona is a swing state that could play a decisive role in the presidential race, as well as control of the U.S. Senate. Strategists in both parties said the ruling outlawing nearly all abortions would push moderate voters in Arizona toward Democrats, while also mobilizing young voters, women and voters of color.

Democratic efforts in the Arizona legislature on Wednesday to overturn the ban, which would take effect within 60 days, were blocked by Republicans.

Immigration is a top issue for voters and particularly animating for Republicans, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows. The issue could be especially relevant in Arizona, a border state where crossings have risen in the past year. Polls in recent months found Gallego with a slight edge against Lake.

State data shows 35% of Arizona voters are registered Republicans, 29% Democrats and 36% independent and other parties.

Lake ran through familiar themes - blaming the news media for opposition to Trump and hitting Biden for gas and food prices. She criticized "fake news media," singling out a Reuters journalist who appeared to be the only reporter in the crowd. One attendee suggested such reporters be charged with treason and arrested.

When asked about the state's abortion ban after her remarks, Lake told Reuters states should be able to decide their abortion laws, potentially leaving it available in some places.

"I'm pro-life and I'm not going to apologize that I want to save babies and help women," she said.

Robert Hall, the Trump-supporting owner of the restaurant where the event took place, backs conservative causes, including gun rights, and had a 9 mm pistol on his hip. When it comes to abortion, he said it should be legal but rare, adding he still plans to vote for Lake if she wins the Republican nomination.

"I personally believe that it's a woman's choice," he said. "That's between her and the Lord."

'TRUMP DID THIS'

Following the April 9 court decision reviving the 160-year-old abortion ban, the Biden campaign and Arizona Democrats raced to hammer Trump for opening the door to the ruling.

Trump appointed three conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices who in 2022 helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.

Trump, like Lake, has tried to distance himself from the Arizona ruling, saying the court went too far.

Vice President Kamala Harris flew from Washington, D.C., to Tucson, on Friday to emphasize the Biden campaign's message blaming Trump. Gallego, a Latino and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who fought in Iraq, joined her on Air Force 2 and criticized Lake's earlier endorsement of the ban.

"Trump did this and Kari Lake was cheerleading the whole way," he said, speaking to reporters on the flight. "It doesn't matter what happens from now on. The voters are just not going to trust her."

Gallego said his internal campaign polling showed Latino voters, and younger Latinos especially, were concerned about abortion rights.

A third of Arizona residents are Hispanic, according to U.S. Census data, above the national average, and the community's median age is 27 - a decade younger than the median for Arizonans overall.

Jennifer Contreras, a 33-year-old school administrator in Tucson, told Reuters that she strongly opposes Trump's agenda, including the moves that led to Arizona's abortion ban.

Contreras, a queer woman born in Tucson to Mexican parents, said she planned to vote for Biden and Gallego even though they are not as progressive as she would prefer. She said her family members would follow her lead because they looked to her for guidance.

"If I vote, 10 other people vote the same way I do," she said.

While migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border have been steady in recent months, the figures remain higher than under previous administrations. A spike in crossings could potentially elevate the issue, putting more pressure on Gallego.

Gallego has blamed Trump for fueling Republican opposition to a bipartisan U.S. Senate bill that aimed to step up border security.

"Donald Trump killed the border bill and Donald Trump killed our abortion protections," Gallego said on Friday aboard Air Force 2. "And these are the two things that are going to cost them in the election in Arizona."

At a remote stretch of the border near Sasabe, Arizona, on Sunday, Reuters encountered three dozen migrants from Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, India, Bangladesh and Albania. Gail Kocourek, a volunteer with the humanitarian group Tucson Samaritans, offered them water and food as they trekked along the border wall.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Golden Valley, Arizona; Editing by Mica Rosenberg, Mary Milliken and Aurora Ellis)