It's been an odd campaign. Putting on her hiking hat and reaching for the water pouch that keeps her hydrated as she rings voters' doorbells, Democrat Judy Schwiebert agreed: the 2024 election is grueling. The former teacher is running for the Arizona Senate in a down-ballot race, so called because they appear at the bottom of the ballot, far below the national races, but which prove crucial in a state as divided as Arizona.
A former Republican stronghold, the Grand Canyon state has shifted toward the Democratic Party as a result of the economic (the boom in high tech) and demographic (increase in Latino population) changes typical of states in western America. In Arizona, the Republican Party is now only two seats ahead in both the House and the Senate. The Democrats believe that the majority is within their grasp, but the uncertainty surrounding Joe Biden's candidacy is beginning to weigh heavily on their hopes: He won the state by only 11,000 votes in 2020.
Less than a week after Donald Trump's assassination attempt, Schwiebert resumed her doorknocking tour on Tuesday, July 16, after a break of a few days. On her phone, an app showed the evening's route through a neighborhood of modern villas in North Canyon, in northwest Phoenix. When she introduces herself, she doesn't call herself a Democrat, but a retired teacher who has returned to service, given the financial misery of public education. The Republican candidate running against her is a denier – she still denies Biden's victory in 2020. Schwiebert thinks the moderates have the wind in their sails. In the second quarter, she raised $166,000 in campaign funds, compared with $47,000 for the Republican candidate.
In front of a salmon-colored villa, Schwiebert was greeted by a man whose stature filled the entire doorway. A former US Air Force pilot now working in cybersecurity, Dan Depaul was absolutely "furious." Fortunately, it was against Trump. "If he's elected, I'm moving to Canada!" he proclaimed, before launching into a tirade listing his grievances, from the abortion ban to the elimination of the National Weather Service to "all those idiotic laws the Republicans are passing in Arizona" – on guns, for example. "How stupid do you have to be to want to put guns in schools?" he insisted. "I hate Trump. He's evil. He wants to be a dictator..." Schwiebert tried to get control of the conversation again. "I agree with you. Trump is evil," she began, "but here in Arizona..." The pilot got even more intense – this time, about the Democrats. "All these politicians calling on Biden to step down when he's told them there's no way!" he lamented. "What kind of image does that give? And now they're ganging up on him. I wish they'd shut up! Or go over to the Republicans."
You have 47.52% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.