Under Robert Graham’s
Leadership and Coalition Building, Republicans Once Again Become Largest Voting
Bloc as Fundraising Success Also Exceeds Expectations
PHOENIX - This morning Chairman Robert Graham
of the Arizona Republican Party reacted enthusiastically to today’s report from
the Arizona Secretary of State that Arizona’s Republican voters now outnumber
registered independents by more than 20,000 voters, and Republicans exceed
Democrats by 165,000 voters.
“It took a
lot of hard work but we’ve reversed a trend more than a decade in the making,
and the biggest reason the Arizona Republican party is so strong today is our
outreach to voters throughout the state,” said Arizona Republican Party Chairman
Robert Graham. “Arizona is a very strong red state, and it’s good to see
today’s numbers confirming our strength and ratifying the work of the party and
the confidence voters have in our candidates.”
Graham became
chairman of the Arizona Republican Party in 2013 and was re-elected in 2015 to
serve through the 2016 election. His tenure has been marked by outreach to
Asian-Americans, Hispanics, and African-Americans coupled with successful voter
registration and fundraising programs which have grown the state party’s
footprint throughout Arizona.
As in 2014,
Arizona Republicans still enjoy a five-percent advantage over Democrats, but
also enjoy a traditionally higher voter turnout performance. Both factors
contributed to the landslide election, during Graham’s first term, when Governor
Doug Ducey beat the Democratic challenger by 12 percentage points. In that same
2014 election, every statewide Republican candidate on the ballot beat their
Democratic challengers, and Republicans maintained majorities in both houses of
the state legislature.
“Right now
we’re gearing up everywhere and we’ll have more than a dozen party offices
open throughout Arizona for the November election. Our Trump Tuesday events are
already having a tremendous effect as we reach out to voters to encourage
support for our party’s nominees. Our precinct committeemen throughout the
state, more than five thousand strong, have been knocking on doors and
registering voters. We’re confident that our Republican ticket is going to
receive a lot of support in this election, and we’re very encouraged today to
see the latest proof that not only voters, but also donors, are lining up to
support the Arizona Republican Party,” Graham added.
Federal reports
(fec.gov) show AZGOP fundraising from individual
contributors ($1,414,718) is 30 percent higher than that of the Arizona
Democratic Party ($1,076,664). Arizona’s Democrats have been forced to rely
heavily on funds imported from other Democrat committees from outside Arizona,
siphoning off more than $500,000 from the Democrats' national party coffers to
shore up their lackluster performance in Arizona.
“The Arizona
Democrats can import money, but they can’t import voters,” Graham added. “Hillary Clinton
promised to spend more in Arizona, but we’re working hard to put up a big red
wall and stop liberals like Hillary Clinton and Ann
Kirkpatrick."
All funds
contributed to the state party are used to build support for party nominees,
voter registration, and Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts. Party funds spent to
support the Republican slate of candidates are spent more efficiently and
economically because of the statewide scale and bulk discounts. Donors receive a
lot of “bang for the buck” by contributing to the
AZGOP.
For the entire
2012 presidential election cycle, the AZGOP raised just over a million dollars
through individual contributions. Graham’s raising of $1.4 million as of July
31, with three months of campaigning still remaining in the 2016 cycle, puts him
well on track to be the party’s most successful state chairman ever. Source: Communications, Arizona Republican Party
