Harris holds campaign rally in Phoenix as early voting gets underway in Arizona

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting Nevada and Arizona on Thursday while former President Donald Trump talked economic issues in Michigan, as presidential campaigning continues even with Hurricane Milton hitting Florida.
Trump spoke at the Economic Club of Detroit shortly after Harris virtually attended a briefing, held in the White House Situation Room, on emergency efforts in Hurricane Milton’s wake. Harris is scheduled to attend a Univision town hall in Las Vegas and an evening rally in Phoenix as she remains in close contact with federal authorities about the storm.
WATCH: Trump delivers remarks at Detroit Economic Club event
Despite the storm, Trump and Harris are slated to visit key swing states on Thursday, using their travel strategically, trying to increase support with key voting blocs who could decide an election expected to be exceedingly close.
Harris is out west, as she looks to increase support among Hispanic voters, especially men. Her campaign began a group this week known as “Hombres con Harris” which is planning to hold upcoming events at Latino-owned small businesses, union halls, barbecues and community events until Election Day.
The Harris campaign has also aimed to reach Hispanic voters who may not be closely following the election by doing things like having Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager, attend the recent boxing match between Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas, and holding events at churches and elsewhere to mark Mexican Independence Day in September.
Harris’ campaign also announced last month that it was spending $3 million on Spanish-language radio ads and focusing on sport events like baseball games and boxing matches. Harris’ appearance in Nevada also coincided with a Democratic National Committee effort to put bilingual billboards in Las Vegas and ads promoting the importance of voting in Spanish-language newspapers in southern Nevada.
Hispanic voters are about evenly split on whether to trust Harris or Trump to do a better job handling the economy, but they give the former president an edge on handling immigration. About 4 in 10 Hispanic voters trust Trump more on the economy, and a similar share trust Harris more.
When it comes to handling immigration, 45 percent of Hispanic voters trust Trump more and 38 percent trust Harris more. Hispanic women voters are more likely to trust Harris to better handle the economy and immigration, and Hispanic men are more likely to trust Trump on both issues, according to polling from The Associated Press and NROC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama is also hitting the campaign trail on Thursday night, making his first appearance for Harris at a rally in Pittsburgh. Obama’s team says he will focus on swing states, especially those with key Senate races. If he does so, that might mean promoting her harder than Biden, who just made one joint campaign appearance with Harris since he himself left the race in July.
Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Christopher Rugaber and Josh Boak in Washington Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.