The presidential candidacy of Kamala Harris could impact crucial swing state Arizona

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In Arizona, Donald Trump narrowly lost the last presidential election, and some voters who were worried about a reversal this year breathed a sigh of relief when President Biden announced he won't accept the Democratic nomination. NPR's Ben Giles has more on how independent voters in this crucial swing state view the race now.

BEN GILES, BYLINE: Patricia Coughlin was stressed. When I caught up with her Sunday afternoon in Phoenix, she was binging "Homicide: Los Angeles" on Netflix. Crime shows help her relax. So too did news just hours before that Biden won't stay in the race.

PATRICIA COUGHLIN: I was relieved just because I felt like the pressure had been mounting.

GILES: Coughlin is no fan of Trump. But as an independent, one of a crucial third of Arizona voters needed to win statewide, she wasn't thrilled with the Democratic option heading into November either.

COUGHLIN: It's a sad state of affairs that those are our two choices - or were our two choices.

GILES: Coughlin said her concerns mounted watching Biden's poor performance in last month's presidential debate. They grew louder as a chorus of Democrats called on Biden to step aside. Still, she says, she supported him.

COUGHLIN: I would've held my nose and voted for him despite every fault.

GILES: But more and more, that vote felt like a lost cause.

COUGHLIN: I was wrapping my head around, Trump's going to win the presidency because Biden was so weak and the party was falling apart at the seams.

GILES: But on Sunday came hope. Coughlin hopes that with Biden out, perhaps a younger candidate, better suited for the rigors of the campaign trail, can more effectively make the case that they - and, crucially, not Trump - should be president. Those trying to convince independents and center-right Republicans to reject Trump and support Biden say it hasn't been easy stumping for the president.

DAN BARKER: I'll tell you what was hard. It's been really hard the last little while because you don't know who it's going to be.

GILES: Four years ago, Dan Barker created Arizona Republicans Who Believe In Treating Others With Respect, or as their signs say, Republicans for Biden. No more Biden means they've got a lot of new signs to print. But once they get past logistics, Barker says he's pleased Biden dropped out because he thinks a different candidate, whether that's Vice President Harris or anyone else, will be easier to campaign for.

BARKER: You compare Donald Trump to any of those who may be nominated by the Democratic Party and it's an easy call. If, you know, truth, honesty, the rule of law, preserving democracy, if they're important, it's a really easy call.

GILES: The Trump campaign says it's confident Arizona voters will reject any other Democratic nominee, particularly Harris, for what they call the current administration's failures at the border. As for Coughlin, she says she's less concerned about which candidate the Democrats nominate and more concerned about whether Democrats can rally around a new candidate on a tight schedule.

COUGHLIN: I do hope that they are able to coalesce and be united and move forward. Otherwise, they're shooting themselves in the foot. And Trump will certainly win if they don't.

GILES: For now, the party appears to have rallied around Harris. According to a survey by the Associated Press, enough delegates have already pledged their support for Harris to become the party's presidential nominee, though it'll still take a roll call vote for her to officially be nominated. That includes Arizona's entire delegation, which unanimously pledged its support for Harris yesterday afternoon. Arizona State Senator Eva Burch, one of those delegates, said Sunday she thinks the transition from Biden to Harris will be seen in a positive light.

EVA BURCH: Well, I think that this shows that our party is flexible and ready to act - that we're not going to dig our heels into the sand on issues when the needle moves and when it's no longer the right thing to do. I think that should absolutely inspire confidence.

GILES: In that way, the process so far has played out just as Coughlin hoped.

Ben Giles, NPR News, Phoenix. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.