Here's how key Arizona political issues showed up in second Republican debate

There were seven candidates on stage for the second Republican presidential debate. But Arizona and its hot political issues — abortion, immigration, the border — were front and center.

Apparent from President Joe Biden's second visit to Arizona in less than two months — he touched down in Phoenix just as the debate wrapped — the state is expected to play a key role in the electoral outcome of the 2024 presidential race. It seems the state's political issues will also be central to Republican policy exchanges and messaging.

Here's how Arizona showed up in Wednesday's debate as hosts Dana Perino and Stuart Varney of Fox News and Ilia Calderón of Univision tried to wrangle the candidates' raucous back-and-forth.

Arizona's abortion ballot measure

Near the end of the debate, Arizona was invoked when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked how he would appeal to voters in the state who will also likely be deciding a ballot measure that would enshrine the right to abortion, which likely will be supported by Democrats and bring many to the polls.

Nationwide, voters have turned out to support abortion access when it's been on the ballot since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. A coalition of advocacy groups launched a campaign to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot next year asking Arizona voters to protect and expand abortion rights in the state.

In response, DeSantis said he has had success in Florida even in places typically thought of as liberal.

“We were winning in places like Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach,” he said. “I reject the idea that pro-lifers are to blame for midterm defeats.”

The question then went to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, with Perino adding that Republicans have lost elections on the abortion issue.

Christie emphasized that he was the only Republican on the stage who was elected in a Democrat or blue state.

“That is where the fight is really tough for Republicans,” he said, adding that he has experience winning over voters while fighting abortion.

Rhetoric on 'sanctuary cities' arises during immigration talk

The topic of immigration was raised early in the debate. That stands in contrast to the first debate, where immigration didn't come up for more than an hour.

Former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy both called for defunding so-called "sanctuary cities," a topic that resurfaced in Arizona in 2020 when then-Gov. Doug Ducey attempted to put a sanctuary city ban into the state constitution.

Sanctuary cities — loosely defined as places that resist using local resources like police to aid federal immigration enforcement — have been banned in Arizona since the passage of SB 1070 in 2010 and Ducey's effort to enshrine the prohibition in the Arizona Constitution failed after pushback from business leaders and others.

Haley said the money the federal government sends to sanctuary cities should instead be used to strengthen security at the northern and southern borders. Ramaswamy also called for the militarization of the border, as well as pressuring Mexico to do more to stem the flow of migrants.

End of birthright citizenship proposed; Pence wants solution for Dreamers

Calderón kicked off the section on immigration by playing comments from President Ronald Reagan talking about a law he championed that provided amnesty to roughly 3 million undocumented immigrants in 1986.

She asked Christie whether he should support a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

Christie said he supported legal immigration, saying millions of jobs are available to those who enter the country lawfully. Anyone who crosses illegally should be sent back, Christie said.

Ramaswamy called for a change to the 14th Amendment, which allows for birthright citizenship in the U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina leaned into the idea too, arguing that the 14th Amendment was drafted to deal with the end of slavery, not with immigration. He argued that individuals who entered the country illegally are not subject to the Constitution and that their children are therefore not eligible for birthright citizenship.

Like many of the candidates on stage, former Vice President Mike Pence called for greater border security measures. He also said he is interested in working to find a permanent solution for undocumented youth known as Dreamers.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program implemented by former President Barack Obama, allows undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to live and work in the country. But that program has been challenged in court and is expected to have its fate decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Nearly 22,000 active DACA recipients call Arizona home, the fourth largest DACA population in the U.S., according to the federal government.

Biden’s campaign issued a statement rebuking all of the Republican candidates, accusing them of supporting failed immigration policies championed by former President Donald Trump, who has been skipping the debates.

"Not one person on that stage is serious about enacting meaningful immigration reform, and it shows," Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said.

Republic reporters Ryan Randazzo, Rafael Carranza and Hayleigh Evans contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona issues played key role in second Republican debate