Presidential candidates courting voters in the West

Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting Arizona and Nevada on Thursday while former President Donald Trump will make stops in Nevada as well, along with New Mexico.
With its five electoral votes, New Mexico is not considered a battleground state. The state has gone for Democratic presidential candidates since 2004.
However, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents in the country, and the Trump campaign has claimed that it has made inroads with the voting bloc, which traditionally favors Democrats. New Mexico is also a border state, which allows Trump to focus on his strict immigration policies.
Most political experts, however, do not believe Trump will be able to flip New Mexico. The most recent poll from the
shows Harris with a 9-point advantage in the state.
Thursday will likely be the last time Harris and Trump will travel to the West before Election Day as the focus on the bigger electoral prizes on the East Coast.
Depending on what happens in places like Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, a candidate could either secure the race or have to wait for votes to be counted in places like Arizona and Nevada.
Republicans are hopeful about their chances in both states because of the high turnout rate of early GOP voters. However, political insiders have expressed caution about reading too much into the numbers because it’s not clear whether the early voters are new voters or the same people who would have voted on Election Day.
Meanwhile, Harris will attempt to remind voters, especially Latinos, about racially charged rhetoric coming from Trump and his supporters.
Her rallies in Arizona and Nevada will feature influential Hispanic and Latino figures, including Jennifer Lopez and the musical group Los Tigres del Norte.