Democrats Think 3 Long-Red States Are in Play

Arizona, Georgia, and even Utah
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 10, 2016 3:33 AM CDT
Clinton Steps Up Fight to Flip 2 Red States
Patrick Chappel of Columbus, Ga., holds a copy of Hillary Clinton's book while waiting to enter a campaign event.   (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Hillary Clinton's campaign has stepped up its efforts to win two states that haven't voted Democratic in a presidential election since another Clinton was on the ballot: Arizona and Georgia. Perhaps more surprising, they have hopes in Utah, too. Democratic sources tell the Washington Post that Clinton's campaign has started sending funds to hire more organizers in Arizona and Georgia, where the latest polls show Donald Trump either losing or only narrowly ahead. Democrats in the two states tell NBC that they are hoping for a breakthrough this year because Trump has alienated so many key groups of voters that he has been a "unique and wonderful" addition to voter mobilization efforts.

In Utah, meanwhile, Democrats now believe they have a chance of breaking a losing streak that goes back to 1968, the New York Times reports. Some 72.6% of the state's voters chose Mitt Romney in 2012, the highest proportion in the nation, but Mormons are deeply uneasy with Trump, not least because his rhetoric on Muslims reminds them of when their own religion was persecuted. Libertarian Gary Johnson and new entrant Evan McMullin, a Mormon, could draw more votes away from Trump. "This is the first time since the mid-1960s that a Democratic presidential candidate could win in Utah," says state Democratic Party chairman Peter Corroon. "Unfortunately, it's not because of the Democrat, it’s because of the Republican." (More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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