With just more than 50 days until Election Day, actress Mishel Prada rallied volunteers in Yuma on Sunday afternoon before they made phone calls to get out the vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
"You are part of a movement to shape a nation where justice and basic compassion and empathy need to prevail," said Prada, who is best known from the Starz series Vida and who is currently in the Peacock series The Continental.
She met with Yuma County Democrats in one of several events in Arizona and across the U.S. this past weekend to kick off Latino Heritage Month, which began Sunday and goes through Oct. 15.
Yuma Democratic volunteer Francisco Martinez said Yuma may be thought of as a red county with a Republican majority but he sees a growing wave of support for Harris.
"Canvassing (Saturday), we did get a strong sense of support for Harris when some people said 'I was supporting Trump but not anymore,'" said Martinez, a healthcare worker. "Before (with President Joe Biden) it just felt stale but now we're really feeling a high energy."
Naomi Martinez, Francisco's wife, said a key issue for her is more funding for public education as she is a school psychologist.
"I'm really feeling excited ever since Kamala Harris became the (Democratic) nominee," she said. "I'm feeling hope."
Xanthe Bullard, the Yuma County Democratic Party chair, told KAWC that volunteers are knocking on doors, making phone calls while local Democratic leaders are buying commercial radio ads and posting on social media sites to remind Yuma voters to have a plan to vote.
"Folks are excited to have a candidate (Harris) who is professional and sane and who has commonsense policies for all Americans," Bullard said. "The issues that are important in Yuma are the economy, water, natural resources, jobs-the things that are important to everyday Americans"
Other local candidates at Sunday's gathering included Yuma County recorder candidate Emilia Cortez, state House LD23 candidate Matias Rosales, State Sen. Brian Fernandez and Yuma County assessor candidate Brian De La Hoya.
Arizona for Harris leaders said a Yuma office for the campaign will open as early as this week.
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Stay tuned to KAWC to hear more from actress Mishel Prada, including how she grew up in a Latino Republican family in Florida and what she thinks when she hears the right speak against "Hollywood liberals" and for more continuing election coverage for Yuma and La Paz counties and Arizona.
