While Vice President Kamala Harris plans to stump at a rally with her running mate next week, one candidate on the short list claims he plans to be in his home state.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said Wednesday he plans to be in Arizona next week, per Politico.
Harris’ campaign announced she will hold a rally in Philadelphia with her running mate Tuesday, IJR reported.
“I’m not going to get into any of that,” Kelly told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”when asked if he will be at Harris’ rally. “I am going to be focused on making sure that Kamala is the next president. … I’m going to be traveling across the country tirelessly. Next week my plan right now is to be in Arizona.”
Kelly is on the short list for a Harris running mate, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, IJR reported.
Democrats are eyeing Kelly closely for his stance on immigration in and the border. Given his state’s proximity to the border, these are issues he’s comfortable talking about, Politico reported.
These are the same issues Harris has been scrutinized for since she was tasked as vice president to address the root causes of migration to the United States from Central America.
Republican nominee Donald Trump has attacked Harris as the “border czar,” which prompted Harris to hit back during her Tuesday rally in Atlanta.
She released an advertisement that blamed Trump the failure of a bipartisan border bill in February Harris supported.
The bill died in the Senate.
Kelly accused Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, of planning to go to the border for a “photo op.”
Kelly defended Harris and praised her work on Central America.
“The work she did in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, is now paying dividends,” Kelly said.
Kelly criticized Republicans for the failure of the bipartisan border legislatio, something he said was drafted “on the 10-yard line on their side of the field.”
“We had an agreement, we had the votes, and Donald Trump wakes up one morning and sees that he does not want this problem solved,” Kelly said. “Most [Senate Republicans], including JD Vance, didn’t walk away from this problem — they ran away from it.”
