Report from the Front Line: Prescott, Arizona

A Case Study of How Running Everywhere Protects Democracy

In April, a grand jury in Arizona issued a 58-page indictment against 11 Arizona Republicans and 7 Trump associates (including Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows and others) for conspiring to overturn the election results in 2020 through their fake elector scheme.

What took so long?, you may be asking.

The reason it took until April of this year to bring the charges was because for two years, through 2022, the prior Arizona Attorney General had refused to investigate the matter.

In Steps “Landslide Mayes”

But in November 2022, Arizona elected a new Attorney General, Kris Mayes — previously a Republican who ran for Attorney General as a Democrat:

And once elected, she opened the investigation that the prior Attorney General had refused to take on. Attorney General Mayes has taken equally strong steps protecting democracy in other ways as well, including warning county officials that moving to hand counting ballots would violate the law.

I met Attorney General Mayes Saturday night in Prescott, Arizona—as we both spoke to a large crowd gathered for the Yavapai County Democratic Party Truman-Clinton Dinner. Amid her fiery update on all the good work she is doing, she referred to herself as “Landslide Mayes.”

Why the nickname?

Because her margin of victory in 2022—the margin which allowed her to open that investigation and seek those indictments for the Arizona scheme “fake elector”—was….

280 votes.

Out of more than 2.5 million voters cast!

Just look at how close that is…

It was the closest race in the nation in 2022.

Remember that number…280 votes.

Prescott: The Birthplace of the Conservative Movement

So, you may be wondering why both the Attorney General and I were in beautiful Prescott, Arizona at all.

Especially those of you political junkies who know that Prescott and Yavapai County are among the most conservative areas in the entire country.

Prescott was actually the home base of Barry Goldwater. And it’s where Goldwater kicked off his presidential campaign—right at the courthouse in downtown Prescott—which is why it’s called the birthplace of the modern conservative movement:

The courthouse where Barry Goldwater launched his presidential campaign.

And it felt that way when I was there. As I walked past the courthouse Friday evening, a boisterous Trump rally was taking place across the street, with all sorts of signs about how the 2020 election was stolen. Arizona’s open carry law was pretty visible around town. I even grabbed a bite in a saloon that made it feel like we were still in the old Wild West, with people dressing the part.

So, again, why were the Attorney General and I both in Prescott Saturday night?

One — to say thank you.

Two — to celebrate what they are doing.

Because as conservative as Prescott and Yavapai County may feel, this is a place where Democrats and pro-democracy activists have made the commitment to run everywhere. And as the Attorney General herself explained Saturday night, their decision to run hard in this area in 2022 (contesting the three seats that make up Arizona’s first legislative district, comprising about 150,000 voters) clearly generated well over the 280 votes that secured the victory that is allowing her to now protect democracy.

And the fact that they are running equally hard this year may very well make the difference in seizing enormous opportunities in Arizona and the nation, up and the down the ballot.

So let’s look a little more closely at what they’re doing in Prescott.

Jay Ruby and Clean Slate Legislative Candidates

I’ve talked to one of the architects of their “run everywhere” strategy at length over the past year.

His name is Jay Ruby. And I interviewed him on one of my first podcasts.

In 2022, he was the campaign manager of the three candidates who ran in the first legislative district (2 house candidates and s senate candidate). And here is what they did:

“We focused on canvassing in the reddest parts of the district. Camp Verde, Chino Valley, Rimrock, to inspire and connect Dems in the redder parts of the county. Between us and volunteers working with us we probably knocked about 5,000 doors. We always carried Attorney General Mayes’ [literature with us]. Without our effort, Mayes probably doesn’t have those 280 votes. But there are likely 200 other folks in the state who also did similar work. I think it’s important to…keep people here aware of their impact and capacity to impact in a battleground state.”

Amen! When a margin of victory is as close as 280 votes, candidates and volunteers taking on races everywhere—and knocking on those doors—makes not just a difference, but the difference.

So what about this year?

Jay himself is now one of the three candidates in the district. And the three—Jay, Marcia Smith and Mike Fogel—are running a smart coordinated campaign. Even better, they are well-funded because they were wise enough to opt to run as “clean” candidates. Under Arizona law, by meeting certain criteria they are eligible for public financing—and they are pooling their considerable resources and running jointly as a team. I saw their signs all over the county all weekend.

You can see one of their billboards here, as I talk to Jay about their strategies and goals. WATCH:

Thanks in part to Jay and others’ hard work, Arizona Democrats now have a candidate running in every single legislative district in the state—and many of them are supported by public financing, so they are able to run robust campaigns.

And that is why I was in Yavapai County. To celebrate. And to thank all those who are bringing this passionate energy in a conservative area, and to urge them to keep going:

I spoke at a canvass kickoff Saturday morning—these volunteers spent the morning knocking on doors for candidates up and down the ballot

The Front Line

Now do you see it?

Prescott, Arizona is the front line of battle of democracy.

In the past, it’s exactly the type of area we have allowed to go uncontested. But Jay and all those I met in several days are stepping up and, as Jay said, “changing the narrative.”

And outcomes.

Two years ago, their effort helped secure the victory of an Attorney General who is now protecting democracy in Arizona, short and long term. Barry Goldwater’s hometown is one of the reasons that Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows now face accountability.

This year, the candidates’ and activists’ hard work could help flip the Arizona state legislature (both the House and Senate can be flipped if Democrats gain just two seats in each body), protect abortion access (through a Constitutional Amendment that’s on the ballot), and elect Kamala Harris, Ruben Gallego to the Senate, and the former president of the Navajo Nation, Jonathan Nez, to Congress:

In addition to all that potential. my hope is their hard work inspires folks across the country to do the same—including in districts as conservative as this one.

Because if people can run and work this hard in the cradle of the modern conservative movement, we can (and must!) do it everywhere.

That is, in the long run, how we save our democracy.

Keep going!