Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes declared that Democrats have become “soft losers” who need to abandon their “warm and fuzzy” approach and start fighting like champions.
“We are not being authentic, we’re not being honest, and we’re not actually fighting,” Fontes said, pointing to nationwide voter registration drops among Democrats as evidence of the party’s messaging failures. “We’re explaining, we’re trying to make people feel good. We’re trying to be all things to all people, and we will never be all things to all people.”
The New York Times just reported The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis.
The politics of victimhood
Fontes identified what he sees as the party’s fundamental problem: “The politics of victimhood needs to be over.” He criticized the popular Democratic slogan “when they go low, we go high,” calling it a message that “comes from a place of great privilege.”
The Secretary of State, who won his 2022 race handily, attributes his success to refusing to “please everyone,” including his rejection of “defund the police” pledges that he called “one of the stupidest things the Democratic Party could have ever said.”
A stark economic picture for young voters
When addressing how to attract younger voters—Gen Z and Millennials represent 48.5% of the electorate—Fontes painted a stark economic picture that explains Democratic losses among young voters.
“To get minimum wage to compare to the cost of housing now, as to what was basically the average in the 1970s, minimum wage would have to be $66 an hour,” Fontes revealed, highlighting the economic reality facing young Americans.
Unlike older generations who grew up with expectations of doing better than their parents, today’s young voters face unprecedented challenges:
- Crushing student debt lasts for decades
- Housing costs that make homeownership seem impossible
- Climate crisis anxiety
- School violence threats
- Mental health epidemics
“We are the ones who need to make the adjustment. We are the ones who need to change our perception,” Fontes emphasized. “We can’t use the same old messages. We need to call for systemic changes.”
The 3.5% Solution: A Path to Victory
Fontes offered a concrete strategy for Democratic success, citing historical data that “tyranny loses once 3.5% of the population gets involved in a resistance.”
With 18-to-35-year-olds representing a significant portion of the electorate, Fontes argues that engaging enough young Democrats to fill a 3.5% population gap would result in consistent victories: “We win all the time. We win all the time.”
But the strategy requires more than just numbers—it demands authentic engagement:
- Listen first: “Stop and listen, and humble ourselves a little bit.”
- Validate their fears: “It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to be worried.”
- Create real leadership opportunities: “Let them guide the way when it comes to potential solutions.”
- Meet them where they are: Understand they get news from TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, not traditional media like print newspapers, NPR or TV news.
A Call to Action: Every Day Matters
Fontes issued a direct challenge to Democratic activists and leaders, rejecting the notion that success requires waiting for party organization from above.
“If every single person who’s active in the Democratic Party actually does something every single day between now and 2026, we will clear the table. We will have absolute success here in Arizona,” he declared.
His daily action plan for Democrats:
- Register voters every single day
- Listen to young people constantly
- Support candidates where help is needed
- Stop waiting for someone else to organize efforts
“An opportunity exists every single day, all the time,” Fontes stressed. “Don’t come complaining if individuals at the individual level aren’t making the effort.”
The Inclusion Challenge: Winning Back Lost Voters
While emphasizing the importance of young voters, Fontes warned against abandoning traditional Democratic constituencies that the party has alienated.
“We pushed a lot of our own voters aside—unions, cops, firefighters, farmers, blue collar workers,” he said. “If we’re going to be inclusive, we still have to include the voices that we’ve pushed aside.”
This includes what Fontes called “dads who just want to protect and provide for their families” and “working folks who are just trying to get by and really don’t want to pay attention to all the rest of that nonsense.”
The Bottom Line: Truth Over Comfort
For Democrats uncertain about engaging with the party, Fontes offered characteristically blunt advice:
“Sometimes I wonder about the Democratic Party myself, and that’s real, and it’s true, and it’s authentic, and that’s what people need to hear. We are not perfect, but we’re better than the alternative.”
His message is simple: “Don’t worry about offending them. Tell them the truth. Tell them what you truly believe. That’s going to be the best way to get them to understand that we’re going to fight for them at the end of the day.”
As Democrats face continued voter registration declines and struggle to connect with young Americans facing unprecedented challenges, Fontes’s message is clear: the time for comfortable, cautious politics is over. The choice is simple—fight like champions or accept continued defeat.
“And that’s the politics,” Fontes said. “We have to be cognizant of this, and we have to not fall into the same trap that so many other people have fallen into. And that is by trying to bumper sticker our way through life, trying to make it super easy so that we are comfortable.”
“If you’re comfortable, you’re probably doing it wrong,” Fontes said.
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