Arizona Democrats Need to Focus More on Voter Registration

Feb 4

INTRODUCTION

While there are many concerns about Biden's re-election contest and the 2024 election cycle, one way to tilt the election outcome towards the Democrats is to register more voters. Unfortunately, Arizona Democrats are falling behind on that mission while in the most recent registration report, all parties lost voters due to voter cleaning Democrats have consistently underperformed in the registration race. What makes this more frustrating is that Arizona t has seen an influx of new residents over the past decade, making it a prime opportunity to register voters that Democrats are unfortunately missing.

JUST HOW EFFECTIVE IS VOTER REGISTRATION

Voter Registration drives that are well executed are time-consuming, but a week's worth of attack ads cannot replace months of organizing. Some people will question whether or not voter registration is an effective means of electoral success. Still, there is strong evidence to suggest that winning the registration races is an effective way to win across the board. A report by the New York Times suggests that dems special elections were primarily the result of high Democratic turnout. It is also easier to focus on getting new voters rather than trying to convince swing voters which is very much needed but a heavier emphasis needs to be placed on voter registration operations.

EXAMPLE OF THE “REID MACHINE” IN NEVADA

In 2004 Democrats in Nevada were in a rough place but then Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid consulted with a democratic operative named Rebecca Lambe and built one of the most successful get-out-the-vote operations in American history. He crafted a strategy of building the state party and using the help of organized labor and the results speak for themselves. In 2004 bush won Nevada by 2% but in 2008 Obama won Nevada by 12% a 14% swing to the left in Nevada while the rest of the nation only swung 9% to the left this may be a result of Nevada Democrats going from a having 4,431 fewer register Democrats than Republicans in 2004 to later having 100,723 more register democrats than republicans in 2008. Though it is worth noting that in Nevada there were other factors like Obamas Energy and the Democratic Caucasus which will not have in Arizona to nearly the same extent however lessons can still be learned in going on an all-in strategy on closing the registration gap and investing in data targeting.

CONCLUSION REGISTRATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

There is great concern about Biden having a quote-and-quote enthusiasm gap one way to close it is to register more voters and put them on the active early voting list. It is time to get to work to add new voters to the rolls it can start at the legislative district level and at places like high schools, community college campuses, and shopping centers. It is also important to train volunteers. We need to do everything to prevent Trump from winning and give Kari Lake an embarrassing loss in the upcoming US Senate Race. We have the resources the bigger question is do we have the willpower to turn the tide?