Organizers in AZ brace for impacts of a far-right government

Over the past several months, Claudia Kline’s advocacy has taken on the form of knocking doors, registering voters, and educating neighbors about local ballot measures. Kline, who uses they/them pronouns, has been doing this kind of work since even before being able to vote, themself. 

Now an electoral campaign manager for Our Voice Our Vote, Kline is just one of thousands of queer Arizonans who have been on the ground before and throughout this past election cycle and bracing for the impact of a GOP-led local government that has, until now, experienced declines in leadership.

The Republican party has also openly embraced authoritarian-style leadership on the campaign trail with endorsing Trump as their leader of choice, giving reason for organizers to believe that local policies that restrict trans rights, deny equal access to housing, or make it harder to live and work here legally might mirror what happens at the federal level.

With all those factors, people like Kline are contemplating what their next steps will be.

“Elections have never been a finish line,” they told LOOKOUT. “They’re a check-in with your community … No matter who wins, there is always work to be done and people who need to be held accountable.”

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Since Trump’s decisive win last week over Vice President Kamala Harris, thousands of people and organizations have posted online and sent out emails saying the next step is to organize each other within the community against possible retaliation from far-right Christian nationalists who hold power. But there aren’t clear and cut ways on how, exactly, to do that—or what that even means. 

But Sena Mohammed, Our Voice Our Vote’s executive director, said that in order to do that, people need to start thinking differently about the election results. 

“I don’t want our narrative to be about blaming each other and pointing fingers,” she said. “Nobody benefits from the blame game except the wealthy and well-connected. In order to move forward, we need more genuine outreach, listening and relationship-building.”

Organizations like Rural Arizona Action have said they are committed to extending this kind of community-listening and organizing, no matter how hard people may be to reach. 

“We need to rethink the way we listen to people rather than making assumptions,” said Sue Doerfer, RAA’s statewide campaign director. “I truly believe that 99 percent of people don’t want others to be harmed – but we need to figure out how to have these conversations so we can come to an understanding that people are going to be harmed.” 

“Those of us in urban communities forget what it’s like in conservative counties and what a radical act it is to just be alive and move around in your own skin,” she elaborated. “Rural communities are largely ignored by the media and by campaigns.”

Some organizations, such as Trans Queer Pueblo, center their work around day-to-day support for communities whose livelihoods are at risk, regardless of electoral outcomes. 

“Seventy-five to 80% of our members can’t vote, so it’s a system that has already excluded us,” said Media Coordinator for Trans Queer Pueblo Sonix Flores. “We’ve never trusted Arizona to protect us or the elections to represent us. Now, with [Proposition] 314 under way, we need to band together … The future that many people are now worried about under Trump has already happened to migrant people.”

Under Proposition 314, entering the state unlawfully will be deemed a state crime, striking deep concerns about racial profiling and widespread discrimination and violence reminiscent of SB1070. 

Legal professionals are also preparing for the outcomes of the proposition. Francisco X. Aguirre, a paralegal and founder of Beyond Attorneys, urged immigrant and mixed-status families to start preparing now. 

“Most people were really caught by surprise by SB1070,” Aguirre said. “It might be difficult to think something like that could happen again, but it really might.”

Aguirre added that educating these families on their options is a top priority for him, and should be for concerned community members as well. 

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José Patiño, vice president of education and external affairs for Aliento—a migrant advocacy group—urged the community to speak up: make calls to the governor to make sure no extra money is allocated to prop 314, and hold Senator-elect Ruben Gallego and Senator Mark Kelly accountable to advocating for human dignity.

“People need space to be heard,” Patiño said. “For some of our youth, especially those who are on DACA, it feels like the only option is to move states or go back to their home country. But they don’t necessarily have the resources to navigate either of those options.”

Regardless of background, organizational affiliation or priorities, many organizers appear united in one mindset: it’s time to act.

In the midst of tremendous anxiety, organizers also shared messages of hope that the community will make it through together, and the hard work to get there will be worth it. 

“Regardless of how you feel about her, Harris injected a new energy into the race,” Mohammed said. “It’s up to us to continue to ignite that momentum … And there were some small wins. Prop 139 was overwhelmingly approved, and that’s something that doesn’t rely on a candidate, which feels really good as a woman.”

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Prop 139 enshrines the right to an abortion within Arizona law, in addition to other provisions.

Kline echoed Mohammed’s sentiments, saying that, aside from a mailbox fire in her Melrose neighborhood that many fear claimed several mail-in ballots, her work gave her hope. 

“Some of the people we endorsed for the Roosevelt School District got elected,” she shared, adding that she’s celebrating small wins such as her mother’s second time voting. “We need to change the narrative of this being a waste of time to these conversations being investments in our future.”

And for all marginalized communities, Doerfer, with Rural Arizona Action, offered this message:

“I came out [as gay] in 1978. I was around when 36 states banned same-sex marriage. The morning after that was so dark, but look at where we are now. We are in this for the long haul, and every day that goes by, we make a little movement. I don’t personally think Trump can stop it. We are too strong and too motivated. We need to resist as much as we possibly can.”