The turn-out was as massive as it was passionate for the just under 20,000 who attended the Harris/Walz rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.

Top Arizona Democrats turned out to support the popularity of their ticket Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Men, women, kids attending with parents—and the crowd was as diverse as America.
One woman carried a sign that read, “Not going back—going forward with Harris.”

“I would have waited all night in line to see this,” said Phoenix resident Jules Veracruz, who was not at all surprised by the outpouring of support, “This is like a concert crowd—it’s like a happiness crowd of hope and a good time.”

People were already standing and enthusiastic but were pushed to a roar when Arizona’s own political leadership including Sen. Mark Kelly and his wife Gabby Giffords along with Congressman Ruben Gallego were introduced.

Songs from Lizzo and Saweetie played against the backdrop of signs of very specific support for both Harris and Walz.

During her address, Harris made certain she distinguished between the stark differences in the two campaigns—hers and former President Donald Trump.

“We are witnessing a full-on assault against our hard-fought freedoms and rights,” Harris said, including the freedom to vote, to be free of gun violence and for everyone to love who they love openly.

Harris also directly addressed key issues for Arizonans such as immigration and reproductive rights.

“I was attorney general of a border state,” she said. “I went after the transnational gangs and traffickers. I prosecuted them in case after case — and I won,” Harris said.

Harris also told the crowd where the blame should rest for the fall of Roe v Wade and with it, the loss of a constitutional right to abortion access—the blame lies at the feet of her opponent.

“And now, in over 20 states in our nation, there is a Trump abortion ban — many like Arizona, with no exceptions even for rape or incest,” Harris said.

Arizona currently has a ban at 15 weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions for rape or incest, that was enacted by Republicans in 2022.

Voters will decide in November whether to approve the Arizona Abortion Access Act. Harris said the act would enshrine abortion as a right in the state but reminded people that both Trump and Vance favor a total ban on the procedure and this kind of national ban would supersede a state act.

“When I am president of the United States, and Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom for every woman in America, I will sign it into law,” Harris said to cheers from the crowd.

Walz came out on stage to thundering applause and cheers while a John Cougar Mellencamp song “Small Town” was blasted from the arena.

Walz told the crowd that Republicans used to be the party of freedom but that now they want to “invade your exam rooms.”

“When we talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make your own health care decisions, and for your children to go to school without worrying they will be shot dead,” Walz said, adding that he believes in the Second  Amendment as well as common sense gun reform.

Walz reminded supporters that they needed to be resolved in their support because they 87 days to persuade voters to support them—but added that they can do anything for 87 days.

“We believe in settling our political differences not through violence, but through voting,” he said.