The Hillary Clinton campaign on Monday announced that it will boost its coordinated efforts in Arizona, an historically red state, with more than $2 million for ads, as well as mail and digital ads.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said on a call with reporters that the state would still be an “uphill climb” for the campaign, but that Donald Trump’s recent rhetoric has put the state in play.
“Donald Trump’s hateful rhetoric and deeply disrespectful remarks about Sen. John McCain have made Arizona more competitive. This is a state that would really foreclose a path for Donald Trump to win the White House,” he said.
He said that in addition to the presidential race, the Clinton campaign’s coordinated efforts will also focus on the Senate race and two House races in the First and Second Congressional districts.
The campaign will send First Lady Michelle Obama to campaign in Arizona on Thursday, and will also send Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Chelsea Clinton. Mook said that there are not yet any plans for Hillary Clinton to campaign in the state, but he left open the possibility.
The Clinton campaign will also spend $1 million total in Indiana in Missouri, split about evenly between the two states, on get-out-the-vote efforts for governor and Senate races. But the campaign will not focus on the presidential race in those states.
“While Secretary Clinton faces uphill battle in both states, Democrats are gaining steam in critical races for Senate and governor in both of those states, as well as local and state legislative races,” Mook said on the call with reporters.
Mook also said that the campaign would monitor races in Georgia, but did not announce additional spending there.
He said that the campaign will continue to focus its efforts on the presidential and down-ballot races in the seven key states of Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Iowa, and New Hampshire. Mook announced an additional $6 million in spending for “dramatic enhancements” in those states.
“Donald Trump’s erratic behavior and now spiraling campaign have left the Republican party in a civil war. For months, GOP members put their party ahead of the good of the country by refusing to take the step of condemning Donald Trump’s outrageous and insulting rhetoric. Voters are now seeing through GOP candidates who have made last minute conversions and have tried to save themselves politically,” Mook said on the call. “And voters continue to be outraged that some of these candidates are choosing to stick with Donald Trump as his campaign unwinds even further.”
Mook said that the Clinton campaign is optimistic with signs of increased turnout in mail-in voting. He said that the campaign believes the country is “on track to have the biggest turnout in electoral history.”
The Clinton campaign also announced $250,000 in spending in the second congressional districts in both Maine and Nebraska.
