“This is our moment,” said Charlie Fisher, Executive Director of the Arizona Democratic Party. “We have an opportunity to flip the state legislature for the first time since 1966 to deliver a Democratic trifecta with the election of a Democratic governor.”
Fisher spoke at the Democrats of Greater Tucson meeting on September 27, 2021. ”
“We really are in the driver’s seat. And if we can turn our folks out, if we make sure that Democrats don’t stay at home just because Biden is the president we haven’t, we have an incredible opportunity to dramatically change the direction of our state and to change the balance of power and start playing some offense for a change,” he said.
“I for one would really welcome that opportunity to have a speaker of the house, a Democratic speaker of the house, a Democratic state Senate leader with a Democratic governor working together passing policies that are really going to make our state inclusive and value the dignity of all of our communities,” he said.
He also announced several news highlights:
- There are at least 9 Democratic vacancies in the state legislature. “We are working closely with our counties and legislative districts in those districts to make sure that we’re appointing people who come from the community, who represent the district, can speak to voters in that district, and are committed to running for reelection because you’re right.
- It was “poetic justice” that the Cyber Ninja audit found that Biden won the 2020 election. However, “We are not out of the woods. The Republican party will still use this report next legislative session next January to push even more restrictive voter suppression bills,” he said. “And there’s a very good chance that, that some of those will pass and we’ll make our work even more difficult next year.”
- The state Democratic Party threatened to censure US Senator Kyrsten Sinema to if she continued to support the filibuster and to oppose the Biden’s climate and infrastructure bills. “It was an ultimatum,” Fisher said. “She could potentially lose the support of the Arizona Democratic Party in 2024. “It makes me nervous. “If Kyrsten Sinema happens to be our nominee in 2024, and we have passed a vote of no confidence in her I don’t know what that does to our campaign efforts. I fear that it could completely sideline the party.”
- The Democratic Party has launched Project 15/30, which will send permanent organizers to all 15 counties and 30 legislative districts. Project 15/30 organizers will focus on registering voters and building long-term relationships with communities. This program will exist both inside and outside of election cycles and empower local leaders to organize people power within their own communities. “We need to be growing our ranks everywhere. And I think 15/30 is the main vehicle that we can accomplish that,” he said.
- Fisher said it was unlikely that a Democrat could oust Senate President Karen Fann, who hired the Cyber Ninjas. “Karen Fanns’ district is the second most conservative district in the state. You could expect the Democrat to get around 30 to 33% of the vote.”
- The same applies to state senator Wendy Rogers (R-LD6), who is a white supremacist who supports Trump’s Big Lie, and supports the Oath Keepers, who stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6. He said that Democrats targeted LD6 in 202, her Democratic opponents were excellent, and the campaign raised more than $750,000. “These campaigns fell victim to a real surge in the Republican turnout that no one really saw coming.”
- Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem will not get his wish for a Pima County election audit. “We’ve got a lot of champions on the Pima board of Supervisors. So I think that that is another bulwark against that.”
