VIDEO: Biden and Harris Stop By Phoenix As Pence Rallies Voters

PHOENIX — Former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., landed at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix Thursday afternoon for his campaign's first Arizona visit, just as Vice President Mike Pence stopped by the state.

A day after the Vice Presidential debate Wednesday, both campaigns took to Phoenix and its suburbs to rally voters in what is expected to be a battleground state in the Nov. 3 election. Arizona's early voting period began Wednesday.

Biden and Harris landed in Phoenix and spoke with reporters on the tarmac.

Biden addressed Trump's recent tweets refusing to participate in a virtual debate after his coronavirus diagnosis. The two campaigns agreed to three debates over the summer, Biden said.

"I'm sticking with the dates, I’m showing up," he said. "I'll be there. And in fact, if he shows up, fine. If he doesn't, fine."

The campaign then headed for the Heard Museum in midtown, where Biden and Harris met with tribal leaders to unveil a 15-page policy proposal for tribal issues should he be elected to the presidency. They were joined there by Cindy McCain, the widow of Republican Sen. John McCain, who has endorsed Biden for president in a rebuke of Trump.

Great to welcome ⁦@JoeBiden⁩ and ⁦@KamalaHarris⁩ to AZ! First week of voting has started. Please VOTE! pic.twitter.com/A0Pgt6IcB6
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) October" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/cindymccai... 8, 2020

The proposal contains plans to address health care disparities and climate change, restore tribal lands and clean up thousands of abandoned mines, among other issues. The Navajo Nation, a portion of which is in northern Arizona, was one of the communities hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden, Harris and McCain met with several tribal leaders, including Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, and paid respects to Native American veterans.

Biden and Harris followed their Heard Museum stop with visits to small businesses in Phoenix and Tempe for the campaign's 'Soul of America' bus tour.

The tour started at the Carpenters Local Union hall in Phoenix where Biden and Harris spoke with a crowd of 20 early voters in a socially distant venue.

"Americans deserve a president who understands what they are going through,” Biden told the group, as reported by the Arizona Republic. "The last thing they need right now is a president who exacerbates their problems."

Biden and Harris then set off to visit several local small businesses, starting with Barrio Cafe in Phoenix, owned by James Beard Award winner Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza. Esparza has starred in several commercials for the Biden campaign after she was forced to shut down one of her restaurants during the pandemic.

Running late on their schedule, Biden and Harris made their way to their final stop: FABRIC in Tempe. FABRIC, also known as Fashion and Business Resource Innovation Center, is an incubator that assists entrepreneurs in building their design businesses. The concept shifted to producing protective equipment for healthcare workers as the coronavirus pandemic began.

"Think about the people you are protecting because of the work you are doing," Harris said.

The campaign stop wrapped up around 6:40 p.m. Biden and Harris will head to Las Vegas on Friday.

Pence landed at Sky Harbor around 12:45 p.m. and was greeted by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Martha McSally on the tarmac. Pence is standing in for President Donald Trump at a Peoria rally; Trump's visit was canceled after his coronavirus diagnosis and subsequent hospitalization. This is Pence's fourth visit to Arizona in recent months.

He arrived on Air Force 2 with Marsha and Carl Mueller, the parents of Kayla Mueller. Kayla, a Prescott native, was killed by ISIS in 2015. The Muellers were also Pence's guests at Wednesday's debate.

Welcome back to Arizona, @VP, and thank you for all this Administration has done to honor the memory of Kayla Mueller. pic.twitter.com/MXwJVT9H7U
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) October" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/dougducey/... 8, 2020

Ducey welcomed the Vice President back to Arizona in a tweet, alongside an image of the two bumping elbows.

"Welcome back to Arizona, @VP, and thank you for all this administration has done to honor the memory of Kayla Mueller," he tweeted.

Pence was introduced at the rally by his wife, Second Lady Karen Pence, at around 2 p.m. at TYR Tactical in Peoria.

After saying the "road to victory" for Trump leads through Arizona, Pence took Biden to task for his record as Vice President under President Barack Obama. He argued that Trump brought back American jobs and revived the economy.

“We didn’t need a magic wand," he said. "We just needed Donald Trump."

The Pences left for Washington D.C. shortly after the rally ended at 3 p.m.

Recent polls show Biden leading in Arizona by four points, according to an average compiled by FiveThirtyEight. Arizona has not elected a Democrat to the highest office since President Bill Clinton won its electoral college votes. Trump won Arizona by 3.5 percentage points in 2016.

Veteran lawmakers and political operatives point to three main factors driving Arizona’s move away from Republicans: Democratic-leaning newcomers, a young Latino population that was politically activated by Arizona’s immigration fights of the past decade and is now reaching voting age, and the turn away from the GOP by suburban women.

This is a developing story. Please check Patch for additional details.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.