PHOENIX – Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is registering to vote in Arizona and Georgia, sounding the alarm over Vice President Kamala Harris’ border and economic policies in both key battleground states.
“I laughed out loud when you called her the border secretary,” the former governor told The Washington Post in an exclusive interview.
Ducey, whose final two years in office overlapped with Biden’s first two in the White House, gave the administration low marks on the border crisis.
“I worked for three presidents: Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Joe Biden was by far the worst on the border,” he said, adding that the situation at the border was much better under Trump.
“Right now, the border is wide open and unguarded. Kamala Harris has never been to the border. She has never taken the border issue seriously either as a United States senator or as vice president,” he continued.
Still, the Harris campaign is touting the White House’s recent executive order capping the number of asylum applications after border apprehensions began to drop.
But many Republicans say the changes are too little, too late.
“She has never been to the border in Arizona to this day. And that is an issue where she has failed. This could all have been avoided if she had been careful on the border, and this is something Kamala Harris will have to explain in her presidential campaign,” Ducey told The Post.
Beyond the border, the Ducey administration was known for economic reforms such as cutting income taxes, deregulating corporations and balancing the state budget.
Ducey, the former CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, already has a reputation in business circles, and his passion for free markets has led him to embark on a new project during this election cycle.
Ducey, who retired from government Free Enterprise Citizenis a pro-business organization that works to register voters who may be interested in free-market issues but are otherwise not political buffs.
“The political debate is so divided. It’s so focused on personalities, but we want to have a discussion about principles, free enterprise and the policies that support that,” Ducey said.
In the last presidential election, Biden won in Arizona and Georgia by narrow margins of about 11,000 and 12,000 votes, respectively.
Given these differences, targeted voter registration efforts are an additional strategy for political purposes.
“Nobody else is doing what we’re doing,” Ducey said. “Almost everyone else is focused on the same people who are heavily invested, and in that respect it’s about voter turnout.”
“We’re focusing on the people that everyone else is overlooking, but who could turn the tide in this election if we get involved.”
Ducey added that even in growth states like Arizona, Texas and Tennessee, Americans still face inflation and other financial headwinds.
“There was a winning formula for good economic growth and development, but the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve’s policies of pumping a lot of money into the economy have actually driven prices up.”
In Arizona, the presidential and senatorial campaigns are in full swing to win over swing voters, with the Arizona Republican Party opening a field office in the battleground state north of Phoenix on Monday.
Meanwhile, a “Republicans for Harris” coalition was launched this week with Mesa Mayor John Giles, a Republican who has supported several Democrats in recent elections.
“As Arizona Republicans, I think it’s time to acknowledge the obvious and start saying the quiet part out loud, which is that our party’s candidate is unfit for office and we need to vote for the adult in the room, Kamala Harris,” Giles said.
On the Senate side, the group Republicans and Independents Supporting Reuben has also been launched, and Republican Kali Lake is expected to announce a coalition of Democrats and former Democrats supporting her candidacy later this week.
