Vance and Walz visit Arizona as early voting begins in the battleground state

Vice presidential nominees Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz both campaigned in Arizona on Wednesday as early voting began in a state that could decide the presidential race and control of the Senate.

Walz spoke to veterans and their families at an event at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Chandler with Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego and Jim McCain, son of former Republican Sen. John McCain.

Jim McCain, who was formerly a Republican but announced in September that he was supporting the Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz, told the crowd the last time he had been at the post was when they named it after his father in 2019.

“It is my honor today to stand here with Governor Walz, a man who knows about service and sacrifice, a man who will not demonize people who disagree with him, but instead focus on bringing the people of this country together,” McCain said.

Walz touched on veterans issues and the importance of Republicans like McCain voting for Harris.

“I'll tell you what this is about: the Constitution over a single individual. This is about rule of law, being able to do whatever the hell you want. And this is about making sure you put your fellow citizens, above personal gain,” Walz said in a reference to Harris' rival, former President Donald Trump. The Minnesota governor later spoke at a rally in Tucson.

With less than a month until Election Day, the race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris to win the battleground state remains tight. According to FiveThirtyEight's latest forecast, Trump leads Harris by just over 1 percentage point in the state.

The Trump campaign said Vance would encourage Arizonians to vote early in this year's election, a sharp departure from the rhetoric Trump used in 2020 when he questioned mail-in ballots and voting early.

And he did so at an afternoon rally in Tucson.

"Whether you're voting on Election Day or voting by mail or voting early, get out there and make your voice heard. And it's important, I'd encourage you to vote early if you're able to," he said.

Vance later made a pitch to Latino voters at a town hall in Mesa hosted by the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Wednesday's swing for Vance was his third visit to the state since becoming Trump's running mate in July and Walz's trip was his second since he was picked by Harris to be her running mate in August.

Harris and Trump will also visit Arizona later this week -- Harris will campaign there on Thursday and Trump on Sunday.

In 2020, Trump narrowly lost the state to President Joe Biden by just over 10,000 votes. As ABC News has previously reported Trump attempted to pressure then-Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to overturn the results of the presidential race.

Trump dispatched former Vice President Mike Pence to pressure Ducey to find fraudulent votes in the state, and while Pence did call Ducey multiple times in the aftermath of the election, he did not follow those orders.

Speaking on the "Ruthless" podcast last Thursday, Vance shared that he feels good about the campaign's chances in Sunbelt states such as Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina, but that more work needs to be done in the Rust Belt states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Arizona's first day of early voting coincided with the Senate debate between Gallego and Republican Kari Lake Wednesday night.

Currently, Gallego leads Lake by just under 8 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight.

In his remarks to the veterans and their families in Chandler, Gallego struck a similar theme to Walz about the presidential election.

“This is not a partisan thing. It's not Democratic thing, this is not a Republican thing. This is an American thing," the congressman said. "We need to protect our real American heritage, which is the safe passage of democracy from one hand to the other. The Constitution that we need to safeguard, that we all swore to protect and are still continuing to protect. That is what is on the line here.

Lake, who lost the Arizona gubernatorial race in 2022, alienated many moderate Republicans by feuding with Ducey and upsetting supporters of the late Sen. McCain. Lake has also continued to deny the validity of the 2020 and 2022 elections but has changed how she approaches her campaign, trying to court those moderate Republicans she lost in 2022.

Ducey endorsed Lake in August, saying that too much is at stake in this election cycle.

"I will be voting for Republicans up & down the ballot in November -- and both Donald Trump and Kari Lake have my endorsement," Ducey posted on X. "Differences aside, there is too much on the line and only a Republican in the White House and a majority in the House and US Senate can ensure it."