Arizona Tribal and Rural Voters Successfully Organize to Get Democratic Candidates on the Ballot
White Mountain Apache organizer Marian took her mother to visit with community members and talked about candidates signatures and voter registration renewals.
Earlier this week the Legislative District 06 Democratic candidates got the signatures they needed to qualify for the ballot, thanks to our incredible network of volunteers and organizers. Local Native and rural Democrats got the job done.
Candidates file paperwork prior to the deadline.
-Incumbent state Senator Theresa Hatathlie (LD06)
-Incumbent Myron Tsosie (LD06) [picture not included]
-Challenger Deydrek Scott (LD06)
-Challenger Mae Peshlakai (LD06)
Our Team Crushed It
On March 30th, we wrote about our efforts to get Indigenous and rural candidates on the ballot. We highlighted the challenges and we are proud to say our team got the job done.
3,200+ signatures were collected by our team and the candidate themselves
Over a dozen tabling events were held across three counties
100+ calls were made to volunteers to coordinate direct actions; signage, phonebanks, text banks, couriers
Over 1,000 emails sent
Over 5,000 text messages sent
3 canvassing events
2 volunteers split up a drive the equivalent of traveling through the entire state of Indiana over a three day period through Apache, Navajo, and Coconino Counties to pick up the remaining petition signatures in order to get them to points of contacts in Flagstaff and Phoenix by the filing deadline.
Organizers and volunteers got to connect and meet for the first time
We held one of our first events in Winslow, AZ; a significant priority community in our region
Drive map for two of the volunteers who coordinated deliveries across three counties.
We Rise Time and Again
Our phenomenal team of organizers and volunteers showed up in 2020 to provide direct community aid during the height of the pandemic, then tribal and rural voters successfully elected Democrats up and down the ballot. In 2021, we stepped up again showing others how to be present year round–educating and mobilizing voters around redistricting.
Now in 2022, we were called upon again to organize and help candidates collect petition signatures to ensure we have Democrats on the ballot and represent us in the Arizona state legislature. We did this in addition to our local work of leading community service projects, registering voters, phone banking, trainings, coordinated postcard campaigns, fundraisers, and launching our Family Votes program.
All of this critical ground work is the investment we’ve been wanting to see in our communities for decades. And it was up to us to get it done. We learned long ago that to build capacity within our local county party, to build a bench of local Democratic tribal and rural leaders, and genuinely show voters we care, we had to find a way as local rural and Native Democrats embedded in our communities–and we are enabled in this work thanks to our supporters, donors, volunteers, partners, and organizers.
What’s Next
Now that our candidates have qualified for the ballot we return to our plan to win the Midterm elections.
Get our voters ready for the state primary election (Tuesday, August 02, 2022)
Continue to our center voters and communities (education, outreach, voter registration, etc.)
Strengthen and diversify partnerships
Expand our voter universe –with redistricting, petition signing, postcard campaigns, Family Votes, and other direct voter outreach efforts, we are building our voter base
Recruit and train more Indigenous Matriarchs through Family Votes
Recruit more Precinct Committee Members and build our base of volunteers.
We have an extraordinary voter contact postcard writing campaigns and phone banking events already in place.
Continue community service projects– community clean up, donations for Domestic Violence victims, geocoding, free organizer skills trainings, and more
Continue fundraising to support all our field efforts
Investing in Tribal and Rural Voters is a Smart Move
We’ve proven that hiring local Apache, Hopi, and Navajo organizers to reach their communities is one of the most effective ways to mobilize and give back to voters.
Join us today and invest in effective grassroots organizing efforts on sovereign lands!
We understand tribes make great partners, Indigenous and rural organizers can win elections, and that’s why it’s so important to invest in us– tribal and rural voters. Thank you.
Volunteers in Coconino County help collect signatures and update voter registration.
Other ways to invest: Join our Circle of Friends with a $5 recurring monthly donation or our Circle of Matriarchs with a $25 recurring monthly donation.
Checks may also be mailed to: Navajo County Democrats PO Box 144, Lakeside, AZ 85929 · (928) 224-8021
Jaynie Parrish, Executive Director
Navajo County Democrats
