Arizona Maricopa County District 4

The Game Changers Giving Circle recently held a Zoom event for Arizona’s Maricopa County District 4, with State House representative candidates Kelli Butler and Karen Gresham.

We were reminded how it’s often state legislatures where truly creative policy is drafted, as well as the welcome news that a Democratic trifecta in Arizona this year is now within reach. 

A prospect that appears to be creating a lot of interest - Arizona now at the forefront of people’s minds, evident in news stories and (as we also learned) 25 giving circles under The States Project (including State Fair) are devoted to AZ in 2024, with approximately $900,000 raised collectively to date. 

This collective giving is important and key to success, as state level representatives are often taking on the role alongside their day job, supporting themselves and therefore rely heavily on donations to fuel their electoral work. This work includes local press stories to keep voters informed, ad testing for more precise targeting, The Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign mail program and door knocking, 

Flipping 2 Senate and 2 House seats is what is required to help build the trifecta, allowing governing power to pass proactive policy and help improve the lives of Arizonans.

In attendance was Lucy Marshall, chair for the LD4 Democrats who has been working to help bring Kelli into the Legislature. She mentioned how at a rally the previous Friday the vibe was good, but as one of the most competitive districts in the state the work needs to continue. With Kelli, there is a real opportunity to flip the seat. Her background includes being on a community college board for the last 2 years and she is highly concerned with the matter of school voucher misuse and a lack of investment in future workforce. She informed us that $7300 in school vouchers, funded with tax dollars, are also being offered to wealthy families and used for personal purchases instead of education, which risks further segregating students. 

Kelli considers this year to be an exciting one, but explained a great deal of work against MAGA obstructionists is required to be able to form good governance. She expressed that Arizona has become a breeding ground for bad ideas on the extremist side, notably concerning 5 foetal personhood bills (where for instance, at the point of conception a foetus is being bestowed the same legal rights as the mother). She also explained how a transport bill allowing pregnant women to be allowed to use HGV lanes would require them to be placed on a database, alluding to the monitoring of pregnant women. 

Karen has been a campaign volunteer for many years and holds concern for restoring public education funding, having run and won her school board race. Karen discussed the matter of universal school vouchers draining the school fund and creating a huge deficit. This is why Karen insists school board races are so important to pay attention to. 

She also raised the issue of common sense gun safety, a particular concern for parents, highlighting a case where a student brought a loaded weapon on a school bus, which was allowed to happen since there are no safe storage laws, or parental responsibility laws. 

Furthermore, we learned that short term rental policy is contributing to unaffordability of housing for families, as investors continue to buy up homes to turn into rentals. 

The buzz surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz’s national campaign is getting people  energised and really helping draw attention to races down ticket. Kelli and Karen are 2 Democrat candidates running against 1 other Republican candidate (with the district’s current Republican incumbent running for re-election) in LD4. There is particular concern with extreme right wing influence in the state. Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed numerous bills relating to election denialism and pro life policies, and it was noted that Independents are starting to realise Republicans are losing their way.

State level misinformation appears to be dispelling support, therefore citizen engagement groups, educating people on issues, closing the young people voting gap (unregistered Dems) and the election of Supreme Court judges are considered key aspects for creating a path to victory. To the latter, for instance, the 1864 ban reinstatement was passed by judges up for reelection, some of whom want to use their power to end term limits by way of submitting bills that can fall directly to the ballot and bypass the Governor veto.

Overall, there appears to be a good volunteer base and robust campaign plan. From door knocking experience, the school voucher program seems to be a particularly hot topic and with this costing almost $1 billion of a $16 billion budget, it is a matter that highly resonates with voters. 

Lucy made a strong recommendation for hand mailed ballots and postcarding is considered to be hugely effective. Messaging for voting at the state level and talking with voters shows people are very engaged this year and there is also emphasis on encouraging registered Republicans to confidently vote Democrat.