(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Daily Kos readers' generosity funds critical Native led organizing campaign in battleground state AZ [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-18 Our Family Votes Matriarchs have learned relational organizing skills to expand the electorate in Northeast Arizona The Northeast Arizona Native Democrats Team says thank you to our Daily Kos readers! As a direct outcome of your support, our team continues to expand and evolve our grassroots organizing campaign. While the core of our programming remains the same, we’ve been able to expand our tactics and reach to deepen our connections in the community. We continue to build the electorate by empowering matriarchs and youth. We have also added programming in 2023 by nurturing the ideas of our field team and allies, helping us grow and improve the NEAZ Native Democrats in wonderful and effective ways. We want to tell you about it all! Under the care of the team, the Family Matriarchs program has grown considerably in 2023. We've spoken to hundreds of women across the Navajo Nation and trained nearly 75 women to register their families to vote and help family members prepare to get to the polls in 2024. We have hosted more community Family Votes luncheons, where women are able to get together to talk about the issues that are most pressing in their communities, their ideas for registering family members to vote, and their power to create change. With luncheons on Hopi and Navajo Nation, we have expanded into smaller communities like LeChee, and Cameron places we hadn’t been certain we would have the resources to find women who wanted to have these conversations. Young voters are critical to winning elections for Democrats in 2024. In addition to our Family Votes program, our Campaigns Director Loren Marshall has created and launched our Youth Votes Ambassadors program. Youth Votes is a great way to get young people to advocate for their communities. Our Youth Votes ambassadors are much like Family Votes Matriarchs, using relational organizing to talk to friends and family members to help them prepare for the 2024 election. We know that young people hold the key to protecting the White House, defending the Senate majority, and keeping great folks elected to county offices. Organizers Casey Lee and Janice Ben have expanded our programming in the field with more high traffic canvassing to ensure voter registrations are up to date, register new voters, and answer questions about the upcoming elections. An extension of our high traffic canvassing unique to rural organizing is setting up at the side of the road at junctions and intersections to meet people where they are. This is a tactic, unique to our team, that creates a vital connection with people who live in remote communities. It helps us reach folks who are disenfranchised because of addressing issues to help them register and prepare to vote. So far this year, our team has engaged with thousands of voters, both in the field and on the phone. Calls pour in from voters who receive postcards written by our volunteers, and we have fielded phone calls on everything from Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, and how to get to the next Family Votes Luncheon, to checking voter registration status. Phone calls are a vital part of the team's job, giving voters in remote communities a direct line to the team on the ground. Meanwhile, Janice Ben’s canvassing efforts in NHA Housing have added more depth to our in-person efforts as she knocks doors in Kayenta, Chilchinbeto and Dennehotso. She also makes time to drive out to voters in extremely remote areas in the Monument Valley region. We will continue our canvassing efforts and expand that work as the cycle progresses. High traffic canvassing in Tuba City Making frybread in Cameron This fall we’ve added events to our work that bring together community members to break bread, discuss issues, energize the electorate, build volunteer capacity, and spread the word about the Democrats and our values. Our Voter Registration Tune Ups, and shortly our Stew & Socks events, are happening in communities like Cameron, LeChee, Blue Gap, Bacavi, Kykotsmovi, Winslow and Holbrook Navajo County Democrats board member Alfred Lomahquahu worked with the NEAZ Native Democrats to launch the Hopi Listening Tour, a series of eight stops across Hopi. At the two held to date, voters shared the issues that concerned them, engaged in an important conversation about building political power on Hopi, and listened to our report on how gerrymandering changed congressional representation in Northeast Arizona. Attendees are motivated to show up to the polls in 2024 and encourage their family members to vote, too. This program is the first of its kind, and it’s your generosity that allows us to host these events. We currently have five team members on the payroll. We remain committed to paying a living wage to the field organizers doing this work every day, year-round. We are still the only Democratic team organizing on the ground in the state of Arizona, and we're reaching a critical electorate that could decide the outcome of the 2024 elections. We know that our work is important to defending democracy. Bacavi Village residents at the first Hopi Listening Tour event As a supporter you have access to the work we put in every day on the Navajo Nation, and Hopi and White Mountain Apache tribal lands. We are proud to share with you what our program is accomplishing. We are so deeply grateful and humbled by your faith in us and your dedication to the cause. We'll continue working and be ready to ensure rural, tribal voters in Northeast Arizona can demonstrate their power in 2024. Thank you for being there for us! DONATION LINK: secure.actblue.com/... Checks may also be mailed and made out to: Navajo County Democrats — PO Box 144, Lakeside, AZ 85929 · (928) 224-8021‬ Ahé hee’ Thank you, Missa Foy Program Director Northeast Arizona Native Democrats Chair Navajo County Democrats www.navajocountydemocrats.org neaznativedemocrats.org (project of Navajo County Democrats) Stay connected with us and help amplify the work! Facebook: NavajoCountyDemocrats Twitter: @navajocountydem Instagram: @navajocountydem Facebook: neaznativedemocrats Twitter: @neazNativeDems Instagram: @neazNativeDems TikTok: neaznativedems [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/18/2199228/-Daily-Kos-readers-generosity-funds-critical-Native-led-organizing-campaign-in-battleground-state-AZ?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web 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/