(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Lorencita Marshall Hired to Lead Northeast Arizona Native Democrats Field Team [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-10 Lorencita ‘Loren’ Marshall, a citizen of the Navajo Nation will lead the Northeast Arizona Native Democrats, a project of the Navajo County Democrats, as their new Director of Campaigns and Engagement. [Original publication 2.09.23 at @JaynieParrish] Lorencita ‘Loren’ Marshall, a citizen of the Navajo Nation will lead the Northeast Arizona Native Democrats, a project of the Navajo County Democrats, as their new Director of Campaigns and Engagement. Loren will work directly with the Navajo County Democratic Committee, Missa Foy, Chair of the Navajo County Democrats and Programs Director, and cross coalition teams in Coconino, Navajo, and Apache counties. Marshall brings several years of outstanding experience leading field organizing teams in Arizona’s rural and tribal communities. Most recently, Loren served as the Tribal Deputy Organizing Director with Mission for Arizona during the 2020-2022 cycles, and as the Constituency Organizing Director for the Democratic Coordinated Campaign Committee. Jaynie Parrish, the current Executive Director of the Navajo County Democrats shared, “Loren grew up in White Clay, Arizona on the Navajo Nation. She is a fluent Navajo speaker, raised in a traditional family, and is from our community. She understands what many of our families are going through and has the skills and talent to engage them and meet them where they are. We need more leaders like Loren. I’m thrilled to learn from her and to have her join the team.” Marshall is excited about continuing to focus her work on centering voters and electing more Native people to office as well as increasing voter participation throughout Arizona’s Indigenous communities. ”In 2020, I was not a registered voter and political organizing was not something I had interest in or any intentions to do. It wasn’t until I was a student at Diné College that I was invited to attend a discussion with the Arizona Secretary of State office and talk about voting. I was feeling overwhelmed and a bit embarrassed about what I didn’t know. I was thankful about the way I was brought into the conversation. I know what it feels like when you think you don’t belong in certain places or conversations or that you don’t think your opinion matters, but after I was encouraged and supported I got more involved. I registered to vote, cast my ballot, then began helping others register to vote, and had conversations with other people who felt just like I did. Now, I certainly know I have a space and the responsibility to speak up and make sure the people in my community are heard. I want more community members to gain that kind of confidence too.” Since 2019, Northeast Arizona Native Democrats and Navajo County Democrats have led successful community service projects, voter registration, education, and turnout campaigns. We have a proven track record of success in organizing our communities and have doubled down on what we know works in crucial election cycles by investing in tribal and rural communities year-round and staying connected with voters beyond Election Day 2020. In 2020, Northeast Arizona Native and Navajo County Democrats teams collected and distributed PPE, food, water, and other essential items for several communities on Navajo, Hopi, and White Mountain and San Carlos Apache Nations. The team of 30 organizers (built up over the year) maneuvered in key ways, amid a global pandemic, lockdowns, and more to reach community members, register them to vote, sign them up to vote by mail, and lead effective get out the vote efforts. The work by Indigenous organizers and non-Indigenous partners were consistent and resulted in Arizona Native voters flexing their political power by voting in Democrats to the White House, Senate, House of Representatives, and all other down ballot races. Most recently, in the 2022 Midterm elections, overall turnout in the precincts in Northeast Arizona’s sovereign lands (Apache and Navajo Counties) went up by 1.62%, which beat the state turnout change by a total of 3.9%. Navajo and Apache Counties were the only counties that saw an increase and turnout. This, once again, driven by Democratic voters on sovereign lands. It’s also how Democrats earned the margin of victory in our tight statewide races in Arizona. Our tactics truly require deep and continuous investment. Organizing in our region is not easy. The vast distance can be a blessing and challenge. The area we cover for CD-02, LD-06, and LD-07 is about the size of Indiana. Yes, voters on sovereign lands in Navajo and Apache Counties made sure their voices were heard at the polls and this was due in big part by the year-round investment by our team and partnering with others. Even though we have succeeded in growing our electorate we still have room to improve turnout and be a decisive voting bloc in the 2024 elections. Missa Foy, Chair of the Navajo County Democrats stated, “We are thankful to have a young leader like Lorencita Marshall who was a part of these efforts, and will now lead our field and engagement efforts.” Loren shared, “Protecting voting rights and making sure community members know how their governments work, who their elected officials are and their roles, in addition to knowing how to register to vote and understanding what Democratic Party values are is a high priority for me. The Northeast Arizona Native Democrats know the challenges of engagement and voting in rural and tribal communities. They’ve also shown great success and I’m happy to add to and build upon their efforts.” Arizona Native voters, especially communities in the northeast part of our state, remain a critical voting bloc and deserve more investment. NEAZ Native Democrats are here to do just that. There is a lot of work to be done in 2023, leading up to the 2024 election. Pitch in today and help Loren and the Northeast Arizona Native Democrats team get a successful head start https://secure.actblue.com/donate/navajoconativeorganizing Checks may also be mailed to: Navajo County Democrats PO Box 144, Lakeside, AZ 85929 Every dollar raised goes to supporting Northeast Arizona Native Democrats initiatives, which includes hiring and training local Indigenous organizers to work year round in their community to provide community service, aid, voter registration, education, outreach, and more. ---- The Northeast Arizona Native Democrats is a project of the Navajo County Democrats and a coalition of Apache, Coconino and Navajo County Democratic Parties building a better Party for Indigenous and rural voters in Northeast Arizona. MISSION Our mission is to elect Democrats, amplify rural and Native voices and issues in politics, encourage Native Democrats to run for office, and take on leadership roles in the Democratic Party. ---- Thank you for your support. Missa Foy, Chair Navajo County Democrats Northeast Arizona Native Democrats Jaynie Parrish, Executive Director Navajo County Democrats Northeast Arizona Native Democrats (928) 224-8021 navajocountydemocrats@gmail.com TW: @navajocountydem and @neaznativedems IG: @navajocountydem and @neaznativedems FB: NavajoCountyDemocrats and neaznativedemocrats [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/10/2152262/-Lorencita-Marshall-Hired-to-Lead-Northeast-Arizona-Native-Democrats-Field-Team Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/