Photos: Obama official Julián Castro opens South Side office for Biden campaign

Posted Oct 19, 2020

Paul Ingram
TucsonSentinel.com

Paul Ingram/TucsonSentinel.comJulian Castro speaks with voters during an event to open Mission for Arizona's new campaign office in south Tucson.
Paul Ingram/TucsonSentinel.comVoters grab selfies with the former Obama-era official and presidential candidate, Julian Castro.
Paul Ingram/TucsonSentinel.comJulian Castro speaks with voters during an event to open Mission for Arizona's new campaign office in south Tucson.
Paul Ingram/TucsonSentinel.comSigns at Mission for Arizona's new campaign office in south Tucson.
Paul Ingram/TucsonSentinel.comVoters grab Biden/Harris signs and signs for Mark Kelly during an event to open Mission for Arizona's new campaign office in south Tucson.
Paul Ingram/TucsonSentinel.comA sign asking people to stay six-feet apart.

As a surrogate for former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign, former U.S. housing secretary Julián Castro opened a campaign office in Tucson's South Side, attended a "bicicletada" or bike ride with early voters to the Downtown U.S. Post Office, and spoke with Latino voters at Borderlands Brewery.

Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio, was one of the first Democrats to jump into the 2020 presidential campaign, but by January 2, his campaign foundered and he lent his support first to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and then to Biden when he was selected as the Democratic nominee for president.

Castro opened the Mission for Arizona's new "South Tucson Victory Supply Center," at 2018 E. Irvington Rd., and handed out signs and spoke to about 20 voters about their early voting plans, taking selfies with several.

Mission for Arizona is a part of a central effort to win the state's 11 electoral college votes for Biden, and garner a Senate seat for Mark Kelly, who is current battling Sen. Martha McSally for the seat. Mission for Arizona has said it aims to open 15 offices in every county.

Over the last four weeks, only two out of a dozen polls show Trump leading in Arizona, a state he took in 2016 by 3.5 points. Once a Republican bastion, Arizona has become increasingly difficult for the Republican party. Monmouth published a poll Thursday showing that Biden may be leading the president by up to 7 percentage points, especially with high-turnout, and a CBS News/YouGov completed last week, shows Biden 49 percent of voters would pick the former vice president.

Meanwhile, Kelly is leading McSally by double-digits in the last three polls, including Monmouth's poll, which put the former astronaut at 52 percent over the incumbent Senator's 42 percent.

Should McSally lose, it would be her second loss to a Democrat for Senate.