Arizona is now one of six swing states and will play a pivotal role in what some say is the most important presidential election of the last century.
Every vote will count.
The nation’s attention will be lasered in on the state whose thin margin proved crucial to Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020.
With high stakes like this, I find it strange that the Arizona Democratic Party is not doing much of anything to improve its flailing operations outside of Phoenix and Tucson.
There is almost no active organizing and no plans to mount a coherent “get out the vote” strategy outside the cities in November, leaving crucial votes on the table for Joe Biden.
Democrats have a tendency to neglect rural America, but the problem is especially acute in Arizona, where at least seven of the 15 counties have party organizations that are either moribund or even nonexistent with a declining pool of volunteers and little money.
In 2006, the same year that former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano won every county in her reelection bid, the party had more than 70 paid staffers in the areas outside the major cities, Matt Capalby, a former Napolitano aide, said.
Now there appear to be none.
The bleeding of Democratic Party resources in rural Arizona runs parallel to a plunge in registration.
State data show Cochise County lost almost 13% of its registered Democrats in the last four years; Mohave around 15% and Navajo more than 12%.
The numeric withering is palpable even in once-strong Democratic counties of Coconino and Yuma, and experts say the lack of........