Arizona Republican Voter Registration Surges: GOP Outnumbers Independents, Democrats

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