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By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Cronkite News
CHICAGO – Arizona Democrats are feeling good about Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of achieving what Hillary Clinton could not: making history as the first female president.
“She can break the glass ceiling,” said Gabriella Cázares-Kelly, Pima County Recorder and one of the state’s 91 delegates at the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago. “She has the support of Arizona women, men, and nonbinary. She has a lot of support everywhere.”
Clinton, the former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state, lost the 2016 race to Republican Donald Trump – dashing Democrats’ hopes of ending the all-male presidential winning streak that began with George Washington in 1789.
At the United Center, Democrats greeted Clinton with elation as she showered Harris with praise, describing the Democratic presidential nominee as a leader with the character, experience and vision to lead the U.S.
“She will always have our back and be a fighter for us. She will restore abortion rights nationwide,” Clinton said.
“Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” she said. “On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States.”
Women haven’t been entirely shut out in American politics, of course. Women currently serve Arizona as governor (Democrat Katie Hobbs) and senator (independent Kyrsten Sinema). But the highest office in the land has eluded them, and before Harris, only men had ever held the office of vice president.
Before Biden tapped Harris as his running mate in 2020, two women had been nominated for vice president by one of the major parties: Democratic Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Republican, in 2008. Both were on losing tickets.
In Chicago, female delegates and politicians from Arizona have high hopes of a victory for Harris and the party.
“She is so qualified and she can be a historic president by being the first female president, first Black woman president, and first Indian American president,” said state Sen. Priya Sundareshan of Tucson, co-chair of the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, a group devoted to electing more Democrats to the statehouse.
“Arizona women feel very excited. People are excited,” she said, noting Harris’ experience as vice president and before that in California, as state attorney general and U.S. senator.
“All of that really energizes voters, and she is going to get so many of us in our communities engaged,” she said.
A new poll by The New York Times and Siena College showed Harris leading Trump in Arizona, 50-45.
Arizona Democrats expect the fight raging over abortion access to boost turnout in November, helping Harris and other candidates.
Arizona currently bans abortion after 15 weeks except in case of a medical emergency, with no exception for rape or incest. Voters will decide whether to enshrine access up to about 24 weeks in the state constitution. That would restore protections swept away by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022.
“The issue of reproductive freedom is something that is very critical and on top of minds of many voters, especially Arizona, where we have the abortion ban,” Sundareshan said.
The glass ceiling was a central topic at a women’s caucus meeting Tuesday at the convention.
“She should tackle reproductive rights, child care and making things easier for working women. They need to do one job – to support the family,” said Ellen Ferreira – president of the Democrats of the Red Rocks, a Sedona-area political club.
The glass ceiling was a central topic at a women’s caucus meeting Tuesday at the convention.
Activists also renewed calls for an Equal Rights Amendment. Congress approved the ERA in 1972 and sent it to the states, but by the final deadline in 1982 only 35 had voted to ratify it, three short of the two-thirds needed. Arizona is not among those states.
“Women should be getting paid as much as men for the same job. We should have protections. This is no longer a debate. It has to be signed,” said Cázares-Kelly.
After the convention, Ferreira said, Arizona women will go door-to-door and make phone calls to ensure victory for Harris.
“We are sending texts and holding rallies and doing everything we can to win Arizona for her team. This is the right time to have a woman as a U.S. president because we have never had one,” she said.
