If winning the White House is one of your goals for 2020, then winning the Electoral College is how you achieve the goal.
As much as I’d prefer that we go by a national popular vote, the fact remains that the system that will be in place to elect the next president is the Electoral College. (And yes, I know there is momentum around the Popular Vote Compact which I’ve written about HERE, but it won’t be in place until 2022 at the earliest.)
Winning the EC will come down to the swing states. Here is a quick rundown of Arizona, plus how you can help the state go blue on Election Night.
Electoral Votes: 11
Presidential Voting History
1996 – D
2000 – R
2004 – R
2008 – R
2012 – R
2016 – R
Recent Turnout
2016 Presidential Election
Democrats 1,161,167
Republicans 1,252,401
2018 Midterms
Turnout in Arizona skyrocketed in 2018. The previous midterm election in 2014 saw 47% turnout, while in 2018 over 64% turned out to cast a vote. Enough voters cast their ballot that a Democrat won a Senate seat — for the first time in over 20 years.
Primary Election Date
March 17, 2020
Key Down Ballot Races in 2020
High profile or competitive races at the state level can drive turnout to the polls. Here’s what’s on deck next year.
U.S. Senate
A special election is being held to determine who can serve the remainder of John McCain’s Senate term. Republican Martha McSally currently holds the seat, and she is running for re-election. But she has a formidable opponent in former astronaut Mark Kelly and this race is considered a Toss-Up.
U.S. House
All 9 House seats are up for re-election. Districts 1, 2, and 6 are considered to be the most competitive.
State Legislature
Both of the state chambers are within striking distance of flipping blue. The Senate would need 3 flips and the House would need 2 flips to become Democratic-controlled.
How You Can Help
Get involved with voter registration and voter turnout efforts. You can join or donate to one of the following organizations, or you can volunteer for a candidate you’re inspired by. *A quick shout-out to the local organizers who supplied me with this impressive list of great organizations in Arizona!* Here’s a list to get you started:
Find your local Democratic party organization: Arizona Democratic Party
Find voter registration events: League of Women Voters Arizona
Find progressive events in Arizona: Mobilize America
Sign up with One Arizona whose mission is “to improve the lives of Arizonans, especially people of color and young people, by building a culture of civic participation.”
–> Check out the impressive list of civic-minded organizations that are part of the One Arizona coalition HERE
Join up with AZ Blue 2020, an action-oriented group dedicated to voting for Democrats
Know anyone at Arizona State University? Get them hooked up with ASU Young Democrats
Get involved with your county legislative groups: AZ Legislative District 20 Democrats, AZ Legislative District 28 Democrats, Coconino County Democrats & Maricopa County Democrats
Get involved with voter registration events focused on turning out the youth vote with March for our Lives Arizona
Sign up with Progress Now Arizona
Join Arizona Indivisible groups: Indivisible Arizona, Indivisible Phoenix, Stand Indivisible (Maricopa County), Indivisible of AZ (Twitter)
Take action with: Next Gen America Arizona
Swing Left has targeted AZ as one of their Super States in 2020
Voter Registration Info: AZ Secretary of State — Elections Website
Volunteer for a candidate: 15 Ways to Help a Campaign Win Their Election
NOTE: If there are other organizations and resources specific to Arizona that you can recommend, please put them in the comments so other readers can see them, too!
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I look forward to reading more of these. I learn a lot about the political climate by reading these posts.
Thanks, Brendan. I appreciate that.
For voter registration, I recommend @FieldTeam6. They are great at finding and appealing to Democrats to stop and register to vote;. They started in California, but now have an AZ branch to. Last week they registered 215 Democratic/Progressive voters – and I believe no Republicans – in 3 days. And it was 113 degrees some of the time. They are the best at voter registration that I’ve ever seen, far better at finding Democrats than the League of Women Voters.