HRC hosted a major campaign kick-off event today in Mesa, Ariz. Remarks came from HRC Arizona State Director Bridget Sharpe [00:00]; Daniel Trujillo, a 15-year-old transgender advocate [3:21] and his mother Lizette Trujillo [5:02]; and HRC-endorsed candidates Secretary of State candidate Adrian Fontes [5:33], Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffmann [7:41], LD 9 State Senate candidate Eva Burch [11:31], LD 9 State House candidates Lorena Austin [13:52] and Seth Blattman [16:41].

They spoke with HRC members about extremist politicians’ escalated attacks on LGBTQ+ people and how Arizonans can engage their communities to help elect pro-equality candidates in November. HRC PAC endorsed 72 pro-equality candidates in Arizona this year. HRC’s election program will mobilize nearly 1.3 million “Equality Voters” in Arizona for whom LGBTQ+ equality is a make-or-break issue through canvassing, phone banking, and voter registration drives, among other efforts.

HRC investment in the 2022 midterm elections in Arizona will support:

• Trainings & events — HRC will continue hosting campaign events through Election Day, including phone banks, text banks, canvassing and events for National Coming Out Day, and Latinx Heritage Month. Check out all upcoming HRC events in Arizona here: https://www.mobilize.us/hrcaz/

• On-the-ground staff and infrastructure — HRC has already built up considerable infrastructure, including 4 full-time staff working to mobilize Arizona voters.

• Volunteer engagement — HRC’s strategy will be fueled in part by a vast and highly energized grassroots network that includes 9,000 engaged supporters across Arizona.

• Partner engagement — HRC is working closely with nearly a dozen local partners on the ground including Fuerte Arts Movement, Planned Parenthood Arizona, GLSEN Phoenix, All Voting is Local AZ, Power to the Polls and other reproductive justice and voting rights organizations.

• Endorsements — HRC will support endorsed pro-equality, pro-choice, and pro-democracy candidates up and down the ballot through direct voter outreach, campaign events, and more.

HRC’s Commitment to Arizona

Equality Voters, including the nearly 1.3 million in Arizona, are a voting bloc of demographically and geographically diverse Americans who are united by the advancement of LGBTQ+ equality. Equality Voters are younger, more racially diverse, and more female than the general electorate, they recognize and trust the HRC brand, and they are more likely to identify with issue-specific organizations than candidates or political parties.

Across the country, HRC PAC works every day to elect pro-equality leaders who support policies that will support the rights and lives of LGBTQ+ people. During the 2020 election cycle, HRC staff on the ground recruited 5,800 individual volunteers nationwide who completed 28,500 hours of voter contact in more than 2,650 volunteer events. HRC engaged in robust digital and online GOTV efforts, including sending over 2.7 million person-to-person text messages, a massive increase from 2018 when approximately 500,000 texts were sent. HRC sent over 2.5 million mail pieces, had over 930,000 phone conversations with voters, and engaged more than 200,000 voters through HRC’s voter dashboard at hrc.org/vote.