Voters in congressional battleground discuss midterm vote

Carefree, Ariz. Elizabeth H. recently stood in front of the post office, in this small, high-desert area not far from where Easy Street meets Nonchalant Avenue.

He felt neither comfortable nor cool.

“I think the environment that the Trump administration has imposed is really sad and scary,” said Elizabeth, who wanted to withhold her last name to avoid being attacked for the views she expresses.

“I don’t like ICE being used to bully citizens, or even just brown ones,” he continued. “And I don’t like the governors of the red states being welcomed while the governors of the blue states are left out. I just don’t think he treats us like we’re all Americans.”

Anthony D., on the other hand, finds little not to like about President Trump. He, like many people who agreed to discuss politics, asked that his last name not be used.

“We don’t have an office that will end up destroying our country and worrying about everyone in the world,” said Anthony, a 66-year-old plumbing contractor and proudly outspoken New York native. (Just like Trump, he pointed out.) “I mean, his tariffs are working. Negotiations are working. I just see a lot of positives coming out of that office.”

Still, one thing bothers him: the way many citizens view the president and his America First agenda.

“Most people don’t like what he says, but look what he does,” Anthony said later in the morning as crowds flocked to an upscale shopping mall in North Scottsdale. “You may hate the person, but don’t hate the message. He’s trying to do the right thing.”

Here in central Arizona, a key battleground in November’s midterm elections, there is little consensus about Trump, his policies and motivations.

Supporters think the president is turning things around after four disastrous years with Joe Biden. Critics think he has turned the country into a place they barely recognize.

There is consternation on both sides.

It depends on what others believe. On how others can believe what they believe, see what they see, and perceive Trump the way they perceive him.

While some are eager for midterm elections as a way to surround the president — “I don’t just think they should impeach, I think they should jail him,” said Brent Bond, a 59-year-old artist from Scottsdale, speaking of his hopes for a Democratic Congress — others fear the end of Trump’s nearly unfettered reign.

Or that nothing will change no matter what happens at the ballot box in November.

“The reality is that Trump will continue to leverage until he is done,” said Elizabeth H., who is semi-retired at 55 after a career in financial services. “My only consolation is that he is a very old man and will not stay here forever.”

Arizona’s 1st Congressional District climbs from northeast Phoenix into the mountainous heart of the Sonoran Desert. It covers the affluent enclaves of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, as well as the Carefree and Old West-themed Cave Creek, where urban sprawl has finally given way to cactus, palo green and other vegetation.

It is the whitest, wealthiest, and best-educated of Arizona’s nine congressional districts; It is home to numerous luxury resorts, large medical campuses, and a large retiree population comfortably settled in one of the many gated communities.

Affordability isn’t a pressing issue here, as it is when you’re just struggling to get by.

Biden carried the district from 50 percent to 49 percent in 2020. Four years later, Trump defeated Kamala Harris 51% to 48%.

(Examining election data, The Down Ballot rates Arizona’s 1st District Median of 435 congressional districts nationally, half were redder and half were bluer at the presidential level in 2024.)

For more than a decade, the district has been represented by Republican Dave Schweikert, a local political figure since the 1990s.

He has had to fight hard for re-election in recent years as the district, like all of Arizona, has become more competitive. Schweikert announced that he would give up his seat to try for governor rather than run again. The result is a free-for-all and one of relatively few House races anywhere in the country.

A number of candidates are competing, and the outcome will help determine whether Democrats, who need to flip three seats, will take control of the House of Representatives in November.

But despite these high stakes, the race doesn’t appear to have captured the attention of voters, at least not yet. In dozens of interviews across the region, it was the ruthless Trump who attracted the most attention, admiration and anger.

Moe Modjeski, a supporter, acknowledged that the president “is no altar boy.”

Even so, “I’ll take over his policies over someone who might be nice and kind,” said the financial advisor, a 69-year-old Scottsdale resident who cited the skyrocketing stock market as an example of Trump’s success. “I mean, gas is almost half the price it was a year or two ago.”

But for Liz R., who has “never been the fall-from-the-sky type,” it definitely feels that way. “Everything from tariffs to ICE to the destruction of the healthcare system to pollution controls,” the 75-year-old said.

“I lived through the ’60s and ’70s, and I can’t remember a time when I was this scared about the future of our country,” said Liz, a retired medical technologist.

The carefree resident will vote for a Democrat in November to contain Trump, not because he has great faith in the party or its direction.

“I wish Democrats would come together and maybe we could get more centrists together who could unite and not get bogged down in some of these social issues,” he said. “There are a lot of economic problems, bread and butter problems, and I think that’s why the Republicans won.” [in 2024]“Because of problems with immigration and inflation.”

As a border state, Arizona has long been at the forefront of the political fight over immigration. Lawmakers here passed legislation that effectively turned police into immigration officers and required them to request documents from anyone suspected of being in the country illegally, and opponents fought for years.

Thomas Campbell, along with Keegan and Guinness, blamed blue state politicians for excessive interference by ICE agents.

(Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times)

Now that aggressive approach has become national policy, which is just fine with retired architect and staunch Trump supporter Thomas Campbell. He blamed blue state lawmakers for over-enforcement.

“For some reason the Democrats have decided to side with the criminals, so they won’t let the police departments cooperate,” said Campbell, 72, standing outside Paradise Valley city hall while running errands with his Irish setters, Guinness and Keegan. If this were not the case, there would be no controversy over ICE’s tactics.

Martha Cornelison agreed that the Mexican border should be secured and serious lawbreakers should be deported.

So why, he wondered, are immigration agents catching honest taxpayers, parents of U.S.-born children, and others who are being righteous and short-sighted?

“I think they’re going after the wrong people,” said fellow Scottsdale retiree Lily, 76, nodding in agreement. The two were sharing a bench in Scottsdale’s Pueblo-inspired civic square, where a fountain gushed nearby in 80-degree sunlight.

“I think we need to look at our county jails, our city jails,” said Cornelison, who makes his living selling major equipment. “For example, how many illegal immigrants are in Florence, our state prison? Send them back. Don’t go after Mr. Gonzalez who mows my lawn. Empty our prisons.”

At the North Scottsdale mall, Denise F. was walking Chase. shih tzuWe passed a parking lot full of Tesla, Mercedes and Cadillac SUVs.

The 73-year-old actor voted for Trump because he couldn’t stand Harris. But he disgusts the president.

“I don’t like the division in the country. I think Trump thinks he’s the king,” said retired banker Denise. “Venezuela and Greenland are poking the bear with Iran” — he poked the air as he named each country — “to see who might engage in a possible war, which is not the way I think the United States should be.”

As Denise was finishing her speech, her friend and neighbor, Anthony D., joined the conversation and offered his compliments to the president. “Trump is a businessman and runs the country like a company,” Anthony said, as Denise looked on impassively.

“How did I do it?” he asked after singing his piece.

“Great,” Denise replied amicably, and the two walked off together, Chase among them.