Even Conservative Columnist George Will thinks Arizona can go Blue in 2020

Welcome, Washington Post Columnist George Will to the bandwagon of objective political observers that thinks Arizona can go blue in 2020.

In a column titled “A loose brick in Republicans’ red wall,” Will pointed out several reasons included in previous reporting (like Ronald J. Hansen, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Pamela Ren Larson’s piece for AZ Central called “How new Arizona residents have turned the state purple — and made it a key battleground in 2020”) that Democrats were poised to turn Arizona blue in 2020.

These included Democratic electoral gains over the last four years in:

• The Arizona State Senate and House. The Democrats are now within reach of a legislative majority in 2021.
• Statewide offices with Katy Hobbs as the Secretary of State, Kathy Hoffman as the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
• Their Congressional representation with Democrats holding five of the nine seats.
• Various county offices like Paul Penzone and Adrian Fontes winning the once untouchable Maricopa County Sheriff and Recorder Departments.

These gains, according to the AZ Central and Will pieces were fueled by:

• Changing sentiments towards Trump and the Republican Party by women in the suburbs, especially in Maricopa, Pima, and Coconino Counties.
• A Demographic migration of people from other higher cost of living states like Democratic-leaning California.
• A growing and more politically active Hispanic population.
• Unpopular Trump policies like redirecting 30 million dollars earmarked for military construction at Fort Huachuca towards the border wall.

Will, after praising the statewide efforts of Arizona Democratic Party Chairperson Felecia Rotellini (including a tribute to her father and grandfather), pointed out that Arizona (and perhaps Georgia and Texas soon after) can be where Democrats can take down the Republican Red Wall bricks like Trump did with Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to Democrats in 2016.

Will also called the reader’s attention to the fact that Arizona has one more electoral vote than Wisconsin. He also reminded them that Biden, according to early polls, is leading in the Grand Canyon state.

He finished his column by writing:

“……Trump will have to spend time and money to hold Arizona, another increasingly loose brick in the red wall that has protected Republicans’ increasingly narrow path to 270 electoral votes. Two other such bricks are Texas and Georgia. Stay tuned.

 Reflecting on the Will column, State Chairperson Rottelini commented:

“It was amazing and humbling to have a chance to sit down and talk one on one with master journalist George Will. He was already keenly aware of the growth in Phoenix and the valley. It was exhilarating to provide context about the progress Democrats have made in shifting the state to purple and by November 2020 to blue. It is funny how small talk around my dad and my grandfather, the union activist, was weaved into the story and I will always be grateful for that.”

Pima Democratic Chair Alison Jones wrote of the Will article that:

“George Will’s piece simply supports what most Arizonans already know: we are a swing state. Despite the fact that the state has gone for Republicans in presidential races since Bill Clinton’s last run, there is definitely a chink in the red wall around Arizona. It’s not only, as Will states, because educated women from the suburbs are so repulsed by Trump, though that is true. There is another reason that Will doesn’t mention: when Trump ran in 2016, no one really knew how he would perform. We knew he was a disrupter. We knew he was an unconventional candidate by almost every measure. But few could have predicted just how petulant, incompetent, un-Presidential he would turn out to be, Access Hollywood tapes notwithstanding. We didn’t know the Executive Branch would have a revolving door.  But we know now. And real Republicans (as opposed to Tea Partiers) are turning away from him. We know Democrats can beat Republicans in statewide elections in Arizona. Katie Hobbs, Kyrsten Sinema, and Kathy Hoffman proved it in 2018. Mark Kelly and the Democratic nominee for President will prove it again in 2020. “

Remember Donald Trump only won Arizona by just over three percent in 2016.

Now voters across the state and the nation can assess Mr. Trump’s performance over his first term (the close to 20,000 lies and broken promises, the Russia Investigation, Impeachment, and the poor reaction to the Coronavirus) and render their judgment at the ballot box on November 3, 2020.

If Donald Trump loses Arizona on that day:

• The Democratic Presidential Nominee will probably have secured the Presidency.
• Mark Kelly will probably defeat Martha McSally in the Arizona Senate Race.
• Democratic Congressional candidates, especially if there is a high voter turnout, will totally or partially defeat Republican incumbents Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, and David Schweikert.
• Democrats may also gain the majority in the State Legislature.

Election Day is in 219 days.

Tear down the Red Brick Wall.