Today, most Americans know Arizona as a closely watched battleground in national and state politics. But this wasn’t always the case.

Up until the 2020 election, the Democrat Party had only won Arizona in one presidential race (1996) since President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, claimed its electoral votes in 1952. While its history of Senate and gubernatorial races offered slightly different results, the state was largely considered a solid “red” state — that is until present day.

In recent years, the Grand Canyon State has shed its “red” hue for a “purple” one. Both of its U.S. Senate seats are occupied by Democrat-caucusing leftists, and many of its statewide offices (such as secretary of state and attorney general) are filled by Democrats.

Now, with Democrat Katie Hobbs in the governor’s mansion, leftists are set on completing their statewide takeover by winning control of the Arizona Legislature this November. With one-seat majorities in the state House and Senate, Republicans are fighting to maintain the only power they possess to prevent a Democrat trifecta government from turning Arizona into the next California.

“The reality is that Democrats have an entire plan to turn Arizona ‘blue,'” Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AZFEC) President Scot Mussi told The Federalist. “If Republican [voters] fail to vote Republican down ticket or just leave it blank, that’s how the Democrats can pick up seats.”

Arizona’s political leanings didn’t change overnight. Rather, the shift came after years-long efforts by Democrat groups to remake the state in their image, according to several conservative activists in the state who spoke with The Federalist.

Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona (SCFA) Chair Merissa Hamilton told The Federalist that the left has “been doing massive organizing in the state” for well over a decade. These efforts, she said, includes mobilization among “primarily Arizona-based organizations” that are “fully funded” with left-wing dark money.

In 2022, AZ Free News published an investigative story unraveling the widespread web of Democrat-aligned groups and donors working to advance leftist priorities........

© The Federalist