Traditionally Republican Arizona now a Trump-Biden battleground

Long a Republican stronghold, the southwestern United States state of Arizona has become a major battleground in the election contest between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. It is one that Trump cannot afford to lose and yet it appears to be slipping away from him. Polls show Biden leading the president in Arizona, where the economy and the coronavirus pandemic are proving to be the number one issue on voters’ minds after the president’s poor debate performance last week and his COVID-19 diagnosis. “COVID is not a strong issue for Trump and he was hoping it would become less of a talking point as the election neared,” said Samara Klar, an associate professor of political science and pollster at the University of Arizona. “With less than a month to go, it is now all that anyone is talking about,” Klar told Al Jazeera. That could spell bad news for Trump, whose campaign is counting on winning Arizona’s 11 delegates in the US Electoral College, where he needs to reach the 270 votes required to win the White House. Early voting begins in Arizona on October 7 and both Biden and Vice President Mike Pence will campaign in the state on Thursday. It is Biden’s first campaign trip to the state. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">