In rural and remote areas like ours in northeast Arizona, we’ve been working, planning, and building for 2022 and beyond. Too often our tribal and rural communities are the first to be left out after an election. Many times there is little to no engagement with voters until two to three months before a campaign ends. Our team of Navajo County and Northeast Arizona Native Democrats set out to change this ineffective model of political engagement and made it our goal to be present and active year round.
No doubt it’s been a tough year, two tough years, yet our humble team of grassroots organizers and volunteers persevered. We made it through the first year of the pandemic, January 6th insurrection, fought new voter suppression bills, stood up for fair maps and redistricting efforts, delivered community aid, registered voters, collaborated with partners, and continued to fundraise all while trying to stay safe in the second year of the pandemic. And our work is not done. We’ve been preparing for the 2022 midterms.
First, let us mention how the Navajo County Democrats Board has led with conviction. In January 2021, we kicked-off the new year by electing the most diverse Democratic board in our history. Three of our board members elected are tribal citizens and two board members have been long standing allies to tribal and rural communities. Our executive director and four field organizers are tribal citizens and remained on staff long after the 2020 general election fulfilling our pledge to remain active, building a bench, and being present in communities year round.
Thanks to the vision and efforts of previous board members, community leaders, countless volunteers, donors, and new recruits, our county party raised funds to continue operating on a daily basis and build out projects like the Northeast Arizona Native Democrats and Family Votes Program. We also have an incredible network of dedicated volunteers (in-state and out-of-state) increasing voter contacts.
Human Campaign and Putting Voters First
Early on we set goals to make our organization a human campaign and put voters first. Taking the lessons we learned in 2020 this meant prioritizing our field program and doing everything we could to support the field team in their efforts to reach community.
On Mother’s Day, we launched our Family Votes Program that focused on reaching family matriarchs and supporting them with training and materials to register their families and communities because we know women are grounded in community and make the best advocates.
While this was in the beginning phases, we were hit with the onslaught of voter suppression bills signed into law and moved quickly to pitch in on the statewide effort to collect petitions signatures for ballot referendums, especially from tribal and rural communities in northeast Arizona. Many people worked diligently across Arizona to educate voters, unfortunately the efforts fell shy to collect the required number of signatures. Now we wait and see how the additional barriers will affect future elections and if current voter protection legislation will be passed in Congress. It was a good exercise in organizing in a non-election year and our team will continue to work with other partners to monitor new voter suppression legislation.
Soon after the petitions, we were asked to help with redistricting efforts. Many of us were not around 10 years ago when the first redistricting committee convened and had to get up to speed about the process and the various phases, then strategize how we would communicate, educate, and engage voters. Our team mobilized quickly to address the many challenges in this convoluted and at times fragmented process that left out many rural and tribal voices for a variety of reasons. Much more will be written on this year’s redistricting challenges and success in the coming weeks and months, but two great takeaways from our team’s efforts is 1) the number of outstanding public testimony and comments made by tribal and non-tribal voters, and 2) partnership and organizing efforts strengthened across coalitions. It was inspiring to see tribal and rural Arizona stand together to protect the Native vote and speak out against any attempts to break up and dilute democratic voting power in our region.
Other important highlights include the Navajo County Democrats - Northeast Arizona Native Democrats recognized as an important partner in Arizona politics and serves as a model program on how to organize rural and tribal voters.
Let’s review the numbers:
Thank you donors!
Thank you field team and volunteers!
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4 organizers hired from three sovereign nations; Navajo Nation, Hopi, and White Mountain Apache
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80,000 voter contacts
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600 handwritten postcards mailed
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200 voters registered
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15 community clean-up events
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6 National Voter Registration Day events across three tribal nations and bordertowns
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17 Cafe 7 Community Conversations
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40 tabling and community service events
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24+ water and wood hauling distributions
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12+ food box distributions
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100+ students and families served by school supply distribution on three sovereign nations
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8 organizer and pc trainings
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5 high powered solar panels and fans purchased for elders with no electricity
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10 local and national presentations
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75 volunteers engaged
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Family Votes Program
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23 volunteer phone bank shifts to high potential voters
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Continue building out Northeast Arizona Native Democrats coalition and organizing fund
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Began coordinated campaign and partnership collaborations 6 months early from 2022.
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Collected thousands of petitions signatures to protect voting rights (AZ Deserves Better initiative)
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Inform communities about voter suppression bills and tactics. Plus, how we can stop it by reaching out to elected officials and educate voters on John Lewis Voting Rights Act, Native American Voting Right Act, and For the People Act.
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Help voters see their impact and how policies impact them on the day to day.
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Fought to make Arizona’s Redistricting fair by educating citizens and encouraging them to make public comments to the redistricting commission
We are thankful for the Daily Kos community! Every volunteer and donor who took the time to engage voters and contributed to our grassroots organizing field efforts has become family. We could not do this work without you. Our wins are your wins.
Remember, no matter what happens with redistricting and new legislation we have to keep the Senate majority, the House, take back the governorship and other statewide races. Powering Blue in 2022!
Stay tuned for more presentation dates and information on our 2022 Campaign Preview.
Missa Foy, Chair, Navajo County Democrats, missafoy@gmail.com
Jaynie Parrish, Executive Director, Navajo County Democrats, jpnavajoco@gmail.com