Recap: Former President Obama stumps for Arizona Democrats in Phoenix ahead of midterms

Former President Barack Obama came to Phoenix on Wednesday to rally Democrats running for some of the state's top offices. His visit came less than a week before Election Day and as polls continue to show tight races across the ballot.

A host of elected Democratic officials and Democratic candidates attended the event at Cesar Chavez High School in southwest Phoenix.

Read the day's coverage below.

9:15 p.m.: Obama wraps up speech at Phoenix rally

Obama wrapped up his about 55-minute speech at the packed high school gym about 9 p.m. with a simple message: “Better is worth fighting for.”

The speech was filled with jabs at Republicans who adhere to Trump’s election lies, but also served to energize voters behind Democratic candidates on the ballot Nov. 8. Obama’s message, and that of candidates who spoke before him, painted the election as crucial to preserve the right to vote and abortion rights.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs joined Obama onstage as the crowd began to clear.

— Stacey Barchenger

Arizona politics: 5 takeaways from Obama's rally in Phoenix

8:55 p.m.: Obama goes after Lake, Masters

Former President Barack Obama sought to paint gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and U.S. Senate hopeful Blake Masters as dangerous and unqualified to lead Arizona.

Lake, he said, was running to serve Donald Trump’s interest, not those of Arizonans.

“If Kari Lake is your governor, we know what she’ll do, because Donald Trump told us,” he said, referencing reporting that Trump praised Lake for frequently claiming the 2020 election was rigged.

Obama framed Republicans as straying from the truth and spreading lies that are dangerous to democracy.

“Arizona, I want to talk to the people who aren’t in this auditorium,” he said. “Why would you vote for somebody who you know is not telling the truth about something?

“I don’t care how nicely they say it, how poised they are, how well lit they are,” he said, a jab at Lake’s career as a television anchor.

Obama also invoked his one-time opponent turned friend, Arizona’s longtime Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, briefly in his speech.

“Your own John McCain graciously conceded,” he said of the 2008 presidential contest that first sent Obama to the White House over McCain. “He wished me luck.”

Obama said Republican attacks on decency, democratic norms and respect of facts were at risk in this election. Democracy was on the ballot, he said.

“I believe in the peaceful transfer of power,” Obama said.

— Stacey Barchenger

Democratic stars: Kelly, Giffords share stage ahead of Obama's appearance

8:25 p.m.: 'Tuning out is not an option'

Interrupted by a heckler part way through his address to the rally, Obama shifted his message to talk about bringing civility back to politics and rising above divisive language that is amplified by social media.

“It’s safe to say that’s garbage,” he said of those who blame groups of other people for “your problems.”

He said that language was dangerous and needed calling out, referencing the violent attack on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in San Francisco. He urged the audience not to get distracted by those constant messages, acknowledging it was tempting to tune out and turn on “The Great British Baking Show,” drawing laughs.

“Phoenix I am here to tell you, tuning out is not an option,” he said.

— Stacey Barchenger

8:05 p.m.: Obama addresses crowd

Former President Barack Obama took the stage to address a rowdy crowd of about 1,000 supporters at 8:05 p.m.

Obama came to Arizona as part of a tour of swing states hoping to boost Democratic candidates to victory on Nov. 8. U.S. Sen Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., introduced Obama, touting his record expanding healthcare coverage and efforts to protect young people brought into the country without legal status, called Dreamers.

“There have been these rumors about me and the Phoenix Suns,” Obama said in the first minutes of his speech, teasing rumors he might buy the team.

“The Suns are looking pretty good,” he added.

— Stacey Barchenger

7:45 p.m.: Republican urges voters to 'put country and state over party'

Mesa Mayor John Giles stuck out among speakers at the rally Wednesday — he was the sole Republican.

He began his speech by acknowledging it’s a Democratic Party event and that he might seem out of place, but urged the crowd to talk with Republicans and independents who may also feel out of place this election.

“You don’t owe a political party a damn thing,” Giles said, invoking the late Sen. John McCain who he said taught Arizonans to “always put country and state over party.”

Giles said Republicans and independents should “vote for the best candidates, period” — candidates who have “workable solutions” rather than candidates who threaten democracy and incite fear and anger.

Giles highlighted contrasts between Mark Kelly and Blake Masters, Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake, and others on the ballot, explaining why he’s supporting the Democrats. He said Kelly is a great senator for his city and the state. And he said if Lake’s elected, she would spend more time at Mar-a-Lago than Mesa.

Giles also urged the crowd to vote “yes” on Prop. 308 to offer in-state tuition to all Arizona high school graduates regardless of immigration status.

He framed the election as one to save the country, Arizona and urged people — regardless of party affiliation — not to vote for people who are threats to democracy and to support candidates with substantive plans.

— Alison Steinbach

7:30 p.m.: Democrats focus on voting rights

Protecting abortion rights and voting in the Grand Canyon State were key themes as statewide candidates made their pitches Wednesday evening to an energized crowd in the gym at Cesar Chavez High School.

“Our ideas take Arizona forward and their ideas take Arizona backward,” Democratic candidate for attorney general Kris Mayes said, leading the crowd in a chant: “Forward, forward, forward!”

“We are going to win this election, friends, because we must win this election,” she said. “American democracy runs through the state of Arizona in 2022. We know that. We are running against candidates up and down the ballot who have said they would not have certified the 2020 election.”

Mayes called for a cheer for election officials who have endured an increasing number of threats since 2020.

“We are not going to put up with the harassment and death threats,” she said. “We’ll prosecute it when I’m AG.”

— Stacey Barchenger

7:20 p.m.: Gallego, Kennedy and Hoffman address crowd at rally

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told a cheering crowd that Democrats are winning right now in Arizona, despite what polls might say.

“We’re going to work and work until Election Day,” he told the packed house at Cesar Chavez High School, which is in his district. “The reason we’re winning is because of who we are and who they are. We are the party of hope. We are the party of the American dream. We are the party of true unity here in Arizona.”

Gallego closed his approximately five-minute speech by leading the crowd in a “Yes we can!” chant for various items like protecting women’s right to choose, bringing jobs to Arizona and electing all the Democrats on the ballot.

Prior to Gallego, Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy, who is running for another term, focused in on the importance of this election. She said she looks forward to serving another four years and said there’s much at stake this cycle, including women’s rights and voting rights.

Incumbent schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman applauded U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and President Joe Biden for their hand in Arizona receiving significant money for public schools over the past couple years. Hoffman said during her tenure she’s added hundreds of mental health professionals to schools across the state, expanded internet access for students and created a new teacher residency program.

She urged people to vote and said the state’s public school system must work for all children, regardless of their skin color, language or immigration status.

— Alison Steinbach

7 p.m.: Some in crowd wonder if rally is coming too late

Alicia Smith, 76, from south Phoenix was at Wednesday's rally "only to listen" to Barack Obama.

"I am hopeful that Obama's credibility will translate to the other Democratic candidates being trustworthy in Arizona," Smith said. She believes that events like this should have happened more often instead of waiting until less than a week before Election Day.

Victoria Lopez, 46, came with her daughter. A Gilbert resident, Lopez believes that showing up to rallies with family is important to motivate other people to "get out and vote."

"A lot of our rights are on the line," Lopez said. "This year's races in Arizona are really important because not only do they decide the future of Arizona but also the future of the country."

And Verna Colwell, a Democrat and legal assistant from Sun City, said she is nervous about the upcoming election and Republican candidates.

“I think we should have been more aggressive a long time ago,” Colwell said. She added that she is counting on the youth vote to get Democrats elected since they “don’t like people’s civil rights getting taken away.”

— Tirzah Christopher and Eryka Forquer

6:45 p.m.: 'Our democracy is at stake'

The crowd in the packed gym was energized, filling bleachers and the floor and cheering to songs like “Come on Eileen” and “Dancing Queen” as they waited for the programming and candidate speeches to begin. Some held campaign signs.

Sandra and James Cowart of south Phoenix brought their two young sons to the rally. Sandra, who said she’s a registered Democrat, listed her top issues this cycle as abortion rights, women’s health and preventing school shootings.

“Really the reason why I’m here is because our democracy is at stake,” she said.

Sandra had already filled out her mail-in ballot, and James, who said he’s an independent, was still in the process, although he said he plans to vote for Kelly. He was particularly interested in hearing Kelly and Obama speak.

Across the gym, Carol Lanzotti of Peoria came to the event with two friends. Lanzotti said she got in line around 3:30 p.m., waiting about two hours before doors opened. She said she’s already voted, for Democrats, including Kelly and Hobbs, and came mostly to hear Obama speak.

Lanzotti said she doesn’t want to support anyone who Trump backs or anyone who denies election results.

She said she’s “very nervous” about who will win the Senate and governor’s races and is encouraging other women to get out and vote.

— Alison Steinbach

6:40 p.m.: Trump calls into to Arizona

Former president Donald Trump called into a phone rally with GOP candidates for U.S. Senate Blake Masters and gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake on Wednesday evening.

Trump heaped praise on Masters and Lake as the candidates who can stop the Biden agenda and crack down at the border. As is a common theme at his rallies, Trump painted life as better under his leadership than today.

Lake will “fight back hard against the failures and betrayals of the Biden administration,” Trump said. Masters would “stand up to radical left Marxists which is exactly what we have now,” Trump said.

Lake and Masters in turn praised Trump for his leadership.

“We’re just so thankful for all you did for this country and frankly I can’t wait to get you back in the White House,” Lake told the former president.

— Stacey Barchenger

6:35 p.m.: Giffords to introduce Kelly

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords is expected to address the crowd prior to her husband and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and former President Obama.

Giffords was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and reelected in 2008 and 2010. She was among 19 people shot during an outdoor event she held near Tucson at the start of her third term.

She suffered traumatic brain injuries and is now an advocate for gun control policy.

— Alison Steinbach

6:25 p.m.: Big crowd for Obama

A line of people thousands long snaked around the high school in Laveen Village where Obama was schedule to speak on Wednesday afternoon.

People arrived hours early to see the former president make his return to the Grand Canyon State, filling the gym at Cesar Chavez High School.

An overflow was set up to allow hundreds of people who wouldn’t fit inside to watch Obama’s speech. People at the back of the line were told they would most likely not get in.

Amanda Villa, 40, from the Healthcare Rising is at the rally to not only support the Democratic candidates but the Proposition 209, which would limit collections on medical debt.

"A lot of Democrats who haven't voted will hopefully do so after this event," Villa said.

Carly Rebuck, of Phoenix, said she hasn’t given up on Arizona politics and believes that the state “has a lot of independent voters that are not going to fall within party lines.” Rebuck, who is a volunteer with Mission for Arizona, has knocked on doors to help mobilize Democratic voters before the upcoming election.

— Stacey Barchenger, Tirzah Christopher and Eryka Forquer 

4:30 p.m.: Trump making virtual appearance in Arizona

Not to be outshone by another political titan's visit to the battleground of Arizona, former President Donald Trump is set to call into a telephone rally Wednesday evening to support Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake, and U.S. Senate hopeful Blake Masters.

The phone rally is scheduled for 6 p.m., about the same time Obama’s event in Laveen Village is slated to get underway.

Trump has visited the Grand Canyon State three times this year, most recently in October to back Masters, Lake and other Republicans on the ballot. Trump’s endorsement proved crucial in the August primary, with all of his anointed statewide candidates claiming victory.

— Stacey Barchenger

4 p.m.: An eye on the ballot returns

Ballot returns in Arizona so far show show the stakes for former President Barack Obama’s last-minute trip to the state.

Democrats had a roughly 35,000 ballot advantage over Republicans as of Wednesday’s count of ballots already returned, the latest data provided to The Arizona Republic showed.

That’s likely an uncomfortably small gap for Democrats as they factor in the GOP-driven war on early voting, which played out with a surge of day-of voting in the August primary. Just about a quarter of the slightly more than one million nonaffiliated voters who received ballots have returned them as of Wednesday.

Obama’s visit could do double duty, mobilizing more Democrats to return their ballots and widen the gap with Republicans while also appealing to independents. Independents typically are swing voters who may not be energized by either party’s ticket and have yet to return their ballot.

— Stacey Barchenger 

1 p.m.: Kari Lake's Obama interview

Obama’s visit to the Grand Canyon State will boost Democratic nominee for governor Katie Hobbs, but he has a connection to her firebrand opponent, too.

Kari Lake interviewed Obama in May 2016, when he was president finishing his second term in office and she was the nightly news anchor at Phoenix’s Fox 10. That was before she left journalism and declared her bid for governor, clinching the GOP nomination in August.

At the time of their meeting, the presidential nominees for both major political parties were coming into focus, and Republicans in the U.S. Senate were holding up Obama’s nomination of appeals court Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lake asked Obama about the Senate holdup, to which Obama responded that “democracy only works when people play by the rules, where everybody is fair.” He accused the Senate of playing politics with the nation’s top court.

It was a time when many doubted the business mogul and reality TV star's political gravitas, though he had secured the GOP nomination.

“Fill in the blank, though, Donald Trump will make America ____ if he’s elected,” Lake asked Obama.

“I haven’t thought too much about it because I don’t think Donald Trump is going to end up being president,” Obama replied.

“And you still stand by that?” Lake said.

“Absolutely.”

— Stacey Barchenger

12 p.m.: Republicans focus on Biden

It may be Barack Obama visiting Arizona, but at least one group backing Republican candidates in Arizona is aiming to keep the focus on President Joe Biden.

“Barack Obama has never won Arizona, and the fact that he is here is a testament to the toxicity of Joe Biden that has rubbed off on Mark Kelly and Katie Hobbs," Republican National Committee spokesperson Ben Petersen said in a Wednesday morning statement. “This election is a referendum on Biden’s abject failure on skyrocketing inflation, open borders and violent crime.”

The statement follows a national Republican strategy to tie Democratic candidates to Biden, whose popularity has tanked as inflation and economic woes affect the lives of many Americans.

The RNC linked incumbent U.S. Sen. Kelly and Secretary of State and Democratic nominee for governor Hobbs, both of whom are in tight races, to Biden’s track record, saying they “have done squat to stand up to Biden.”

Republican challenger for U.S. Senate Blake Masters posted a video to Twitter on Wednesday morning striking a similar chord. Masters said Kelly and Hobbs are “stumbling” and “dragging Barack Obama out of retirement to come rally in Phoenix” to distract from Biden not being here.

— Stacey Barchenger and Alison Steinbach

11 a.m.: Who are the speakers at the Obama rally?

President Barack Obama’s visit to Arizona on Wednesday brings a late-in-the-race spotlight to Democrats making their final appeal to supporters and independent voters ahead of Nov. 8.

As such, there’s a long list of candidates who will take the stage before the Democratic former president. But not all the speakers are Democrats themselves, offering a hint at a broader tone of the event as a whole.

Speakers include incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; gubernatorial nominee and Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs; candidate for attorney general Kris Mayes; candidate for Secretary of State Adrian Fontes; Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; Corporation Commissioner Sandra Kennedy; and incumbent schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman. Arizona Democratic Party chair and state Sen. Raquel Terán, D-Phoenix, also is on the agenda.

The lone Republican among the lineup is Mesa Mayor John Giles, who is an outspoken supporter of Hobbs in particular, calling her election-denying opponent Kari Lake, the GOP nominee, so “dangerous” for Arizona he crossed party lines.

— Stacey Barchenger

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Recap: Barack Obama stumps for Kelly, Hobbs before midterms