Arizona Democrats launch voter outreach effort ahead of key Senate race

Arizona Democrats Wednesday rolled out a sprawling voter outreach effort Wednesday as they prepare to defend Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D) seat and try to flip the governor’s mansion. 

The Arizona Democratic Party announced the relaunch of its “Mission for Arizona,” which was first rolled out in 2020 and involved more than 34,000 volunteers who had more than 1.7 million digital, phone and in-person conversations with voters in the state.

The party is teaming up with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the effort’s launch Wednesday marks the earliest point any coordinated campaign has been rolled out in state history. 

“Senator Kelly and Democrats up and down the ticket have been hard at work delivering real results on the issues that matter most,” said state party Chair Raquel Terán. “Mission for Arizona will organize in every corner of the state to elect Democrats working so hard on behalf of all Arizonans.”

The campaign will look to build off Democrats’ success in Arizona in 2020, when Kelly won an election to fill the remainder of the late Sen. John McCain’s (R) term and President Biden took the state’s 11 Electoral College votes.

Besides buoying Kelly and the ultimate Democratic gubernatorial nominee, the campaign said it will focus on boosting candidates all the way down the ballot. 

“In 2020, Democrats were successful thanks to the immense and diverse volunteer infrastructure that mobilized Arizonans across the state to elect President Biden, Senator Mark Kelly, and re-elect House Democrats,” said Sean McEnerney, Mission for Arizona’s coordinated campaign director. “There is so much at stake in this election and our work is critical to elect leaders who will focus on the issues that matter most to Arizona, not partisan politics or corporate special interests.”

The Arizona Senate race, during which Kelly will run for a full term of his own, is a linchpin in both parties’ strategies for the upper chamber. Democrats currently control the Senate by a 50-50 margin, so any one seat can flip the majority. 

The state had long been a conservative bastion, but changing demographics and a population boom in the Phoenix suburbs helped make the state more competitive, leading to victories for Kelly and Biden in 2020 and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) in 2018.