PHOENIX — With the help of millions of dollars from outside groups, Arizona Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs focused her election efforts on down-ballot races and flipping the state legislature blue for the first time in decades — instead, Republicans are on track to gain ground.
“Some people, when they lose elections, just put their head down and say the voters are wrong, and next time, we'll convince them. Others say, maybe we've got the wrong message,” Stan Barnes, a political strategist with Copper State Consulting told ABC15.
For Democratic strategist Stacy Pearson, it’s the latter. She’s now turning her focus on finding a solution.
“There are folks that are in a depression, they're in the phase of grief that involves ordering Thin Mints and watching rom-coms. And then there's another camp, which I'm proud to be part of, that is just mad, and really involved in the autopsy, trying to figure out what went wrong,” Pearson, co-founder of Lumen Strategies told ABC15.
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Pearson said Democrats need to refocus their messaging and pay attention to what issues matter to the voters.
“Raise money, register voters, those are the two things we should be focused on most,” Pearson said. “We need to get back to that as Democrats and explain to folks what we really stand for and stop preaching to people that they're wrong about feeling better about the economy four years ago than today. So, we need to stop talking, start listening.”
With Republicans likely to maintain control of both chambers of the state legislature, Barnes expects Arizona is headed for another uneventful upcoming session.
“I don't think things are going to be much different than we have the last two years,” Barnes said. “The strong Democratic governor, a strong Republican legislature, and the stalemate on big issues and the need to be pragmatic on a budget which must be done, so it's more the same for the next two years.”
As of Friday afternoon, there are still hundreds of thousands of ballots that still need to be counted. In a statement released Thursday, the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said “honoring democracy means being patient,” adding that, “many legislative races are still too close to call.”
