As Election Day steadily approaches, campaigns on both sides of the aisle have ramped up their efforts toward women voters. Events on and off the ASU campuses featured prominent female political figures, including Lara Trump and Gwen Walz.
'Team Trump Women's Tour'
On Monday, Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee and daughter-in-law of former President Donald Trump, led a "Team Trump Women's Tour" event alongside prominent Republican women at the Trump Force 47 Office in Phoenix, including Danica Patrick and Kari Lake.
Halee Dobbins, Arizona state communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign, expressed enthusiasm for the gathering within the field office.
"We're super excited," Dobbins said. "Lara Trump and a bunch of other female leaders in the Trump campaign are here today. They're here to talk about the issues that are impacting women, not just in Arizona but across the country — inflation, cost of living, security for their families."
Dobbins focused on the campaign's message of early voting, urging women to make their voices heard ahead of Election Day.
"(The speakers) just want to get everyone riled up, with the main message being to get people to vote early," Dobbins said. "We know that voting early is so crucial to this election, especially here in Arizona."
Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake encouraged women in the audience to mobilize their communities, similar to Dobbins' claim.
"Get three or four or five or ten moms and say, 'Let's go vote together!' Get them out to vote," Lake said. "We gotta get out and vote early. For those who you can't convince to vote early, we need you to get active on Election Day and make sure they're going to a voting center."
Lake expressed her optimism for the upcoming election and future policies if former President Donald Trump is reelected.
"I am so optimistic about the future," Lake said. "I want our kids to dream super, super big. Whatever you think you want to be, dream even bigger, because we're going to do some really great things."
Lara Trump took the stage to further inspire the crowd.
Lara Trump emphasized the stakes of the upcoming election, claiming it is "the biggest, most consequential election of any of our lifetimes."
"We are eight days away from victory," Lara Trump said. "You are going to be the reason Donald Trump is the 47th president."
'7 Days Out!: Early Vote Event with Gwen Walz'
At the Civic Space Park located at the Downtown Phoenix campus, Gwen Walz and other Arizona Democratic politicians held an event on Tuesday morning to urge early voting, taking place exactly a week from Election Day.
"There's so many double standards for women, but we have an exceptionally brilliant woman who served as an attorney general," said Yassamin Ansari, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House to represent Arizona's 3rd Congressional District. "She served as a senator, she's the vice president of this country, and she is going to do so much good for us."
Walz spoke to a crowd of around 60 people, bringing up the Project 2025 agenda — previously denounced by former President Trump — and addressed reproductive rights in the state.
READ MORE: As elections loom, abortion ballot measure leaves students wondering about access
"Arizonans, we have a chance to vote yes on Proposition 139, and you certainly should," Walz said. "But make no mistake, if Trump imposes his 50-state abortion ban, those protections disappear, and he won't stop there. His agenda even threatens IVF."
Proposition 139, also known as the Right to Abortion initiative, would amend the state constitution to provide the right to an abortion up until the point of fetal viability.
Edited by George Headley, Abigail Beck and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporters at elbradfo@asu.edu and emuslim@asu.edu and follow @emmalbradford__ and @emra_m1 on X.
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Emma is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication and political science, with a minor in business. This is her second semester with The State Press.
Emra is a junior studying political science with a minor in Spanish. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at the League of Women Voters of Arizona, USG-WV, Honors College Council at Barrett and the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict.
