Harris reaches out to Republicans in Arizona

Kamala Harris is extending her efforts to reach out to Republicans, pledging Friday to create a bipartisan council of advisers to help craft policy if she is elected.

The vice president made the promise as she campaigned in Arizona, where she will need independents and disaffected Republicans to defeat Donald Trump.

“Here’s the thing I also understand and feel strongly about: In order for us as America to maintain our status as the strongest democracy in the world, we need a healthy two-party system,” Harris said during a campaign stop in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Harris has made overtures to Republicans to an unprecedented degree in modern U.S. presidential politics. She has campaigned with conservative Rep. Liz Cheney, collected endorsements from a long list of officials from the opposite side of the aisle, and said she would appoint someone from the GOP to her Cabinet if elected.

She gave no details on her proposed bipartisan council of advisers during her Arizona stop but it’s an idea that might find traction in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats. In 2020, Joe Biden was the first Democratic candidate to win the state since 1996.

The vice president’s pledge comes as polls show Harris and former President Donald Trump neck-in-neck.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal released a battleground state poll that showed across all the swing-state voters surveyed, Trump led Harris 46 percent to 45 percent. The poll showed that Harris had a two-point lead in Arizona, which could be one of the states that determines the election.

“I am committed to all of you to be a president for all Americans and to work as we must — together — again, knowing we have so much more in common than what separates us,” Harris said.