The county of Maricopa may end up having the key to conquering the White House this Tuesday, by deciding by its relative weight the result of Arizona, a state that experienced scenes of great tension four years ago, when President Joe Biden managed to turn it around by a narrow difference of three tenths.
With 11 electoral votes at stake, the dispute over Arizona’s votes has led Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to tour the state from end to end in search of a handful of votes that could tip the balance in their favor and to do so, Maricopa, the most populous county and one of the More US growth is key.
About 60 percent of Arizona’s population (4.4 million inhabitants) resides in this county, seen as a conservative fiefdom, despite the fact that in 1996 the progressive Bill Clinton, between 1993 and 2001, and in 2020 Joe Biden won this state , to the attract the voters of this county.
Key location for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
It was precisely in Phoenixthe state capital and head of Maricopa County, where the first claims of fraud were planted among Trump supporters that led to the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
After the official results were known granting victory to Biden in the state, hundreds of Trump supporters took to the streets of the center of the state capital armed to challenge the electoral process for which his rival Biden had won by 10,457 votes.
That small margin of difference gave the Democrats victory in the state, and with it, they prevailed at the polls against the New York tycoon, who was running for re-election.
Maricopa and Arizona grow after Biden’s presidency
Arizona and Maricopa in particular have seen rapid growth during Joe Biden’s presidency, being the focus of new investments of tens of billions in semiconductor plants, which have attracted skilled labor and thousands of construction jobs.
The county’s economy is growing at twice the rate of the rest of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and to date chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has invested more than 65 billion in the area and its plants already produce more than in Taiwan, a milestone for the advanced manufacturing sector in the United States.
That has also made Phoenix one of the metropolitan areas with one of the most overheated real estate sectors in the country and that prices, a main concern of the electorate, have risen almost 27 percent compared to pre-election levels. COVID-19 pandemicone of the most inflationary cities in the US.
The legislative elections, another battle in Arizona
Part of Tucsonone of the oldest cities in the United States, on the border with Mexico and which extends to the Apache Forests, is covered by District 6, another key territory in Arizona, in this case because a seat is at stake there. to Congress.
“This seat could determine control of the US House of Representatives and could also control and determine other very important races,” the Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives for this seat, Kirsten Engel, told EFE.
The Democrats have relied on the Hispanic community to confront the Republicans, but it is not an easy race, especially when they have as a rival Juan CiscomaniMexican by birth, who is running for re-election.
On the other hand, control of the Senate could also be determined in this state, since Republican Kari Lake is reducing the disadvantage she has with the Democrat Ruben Gallegowho is contesting a seat that will be vacated by Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party and did not run for re-election as an independent.
