Following Up with Legislative 20 Chair Janet Wilson on Getting Ready for 2020

A lot has happened in Democratic Arizona Legislative District 20, an area that includes all or parts of Phoenix, Moon Valley, and Glendale since 2019.

Two candidates, Judy Schwiebert and Doug Ervin have emerged to run for the District’s State House and Senate seats.

P.C. recruitment is up.

Fundraising is up.

Community Outreach has expanded.

Enthusiasm to turn the district blue is high.

Janet Wilson, the Chair of Legislative District 20 discussed the progress that has been made and the plans for moving forward.

The questions and her responses are below.

 

 

 

 

 

• In terms of moving forward, what are two things you are doing the same from 2018 in preparing for the 2020 election cycle?

“During the 2018 cycle, we grew LD20 both in terms of the number of Precinct Committee People (PC’s) and attendees to our monthly meeting where we outgrew our prior meeting space. The second important thing we achieved in 2018 was opening a campaign office.”

“For the 2020 cycle, we continue to see more and more neighbors attending our monthly meetings and have continued to increase the number of PCs in our LD. Additionally, we are projected to open a campaign office earlier in 2020 than we did in 2018.”

• In terms of moving forward, what are two things you are doing differently from 2018 in preparing for the 2020 election cycle?

“Our monthly meetings are much more organized, informational, and technologically advanced where we are utilizing the resources afforded to us in our meeting space. We have also incorporated a philanthropic element with our LD by providing opportunities for our membership to give back to the community. We have located additional venues for our PCs & volunteers to assist us with neighborhood outreach through phone banking and postcards. I feel that all of these differences in 2020 have contributed to the growth in our attendance which in turn grows our PC base.”

 “Another key difference in 2020 has been our approach to fundraising – we have provided different ways for our supporters to help the LD and by doing so, we have surpassed our fundraising goals.”

• Have all the candidates that are running officially declared? If not, please explain.

“Doug Ervin for State Senate and Judy Schwiebert for State House have officially declared in the Summer 2019; there have been no other candidates who have approached me.”

• Please assess the candidates that have declared and are actively campaigning

“LD20 has gotten behind our two official candidates and have actively participated in canvasses collecting signatures to get them on the ballot along with phone banks inviting our LD20 neighbors to various community events.” One of our PC’s (Evan Short) is looking to run for Phoenix City Council 1. Aaron Jahneke is another LD 20 PC and is rerunning for Washington Elementary School District. Another LD20 PC is Dan Toporek who is running for Maricopa County Treasurer.

• Please explain at least two ways how these candidates would take the LD in a different direction from their likely Republican opponents.

“These two Democratic legislative candidates will listen to ALL of the LD20 neighbors and not just the Democratic ones. This would be a question better answered by the candidates directly.”

• Please explain the three main issues the Party in your district will emphasize when running in 2020.

“Education, Healthcare, Economy – these are the same issues which our candidates are focused on improving in 2018, too”

• Please explain the current progress in:

 

• Method for recruiting P.C.’S – “We continue to grow our PC base with 82 PCs as of 12/31/2019 (we had 50 PC’s at the end of the 2018 cycle) and we are on track to reach our goal of 100 in 2020. We have accomplished this by engaging new neighbors, providing different opportunities to get involved, and having informative meetings.
• Community Activism in the LD – “In 2019, we created a new board position, “Dems Give Back” where we provide opportunities for our LD to give back to our community. We have participated in a Home Building project, clothing and food drives, and assistance with a local food pantry. New in 2020, we are looking at partnering with the Phoenix City Parks and helping with cleanup at an LD20 park.”
• Fundraising: “Our first annual Decadent Desserts, Wine, & Fine Arts Silent Auction fundraiser was a huge success for LD20 in 2019. We have now made this our signature event and will have another one in 2020. We have increased the number of recurring donors with a steady and dependable revenue stream for LD20. These two efforts are the most notable.”
• Voter Registration: “We have located one LD20 PC who will be dedicated to coordinating Voter Registration (VR) opportunities for our LD and expect to make significant progress in this area in 2020. One way we will do this is by partnering with other organizations and adjacent LDs.”
• Social Media: “We are fortunate enough to have a Social Media Chair who has taken ownership of our website and keeps it refreshed and updated. This website work has improved our ability to be searched and located by individuals not familiar with our group. Additionally, we diligently send out weekly emails with new information and opportunities to get involved. Our presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter has been good. We have also started using the MeetUp app which has worked well, especially for our social events.”

 

Legislative 20 is one of the districts the County and State Wings of the Democratic Party will look towards as one of the barometers on election evening on how the Democrats are doing.

If Judy Schwiebert and Doug Ervin do well and win their seats, the odds are strong that Democrats have probably taken control of the State Legislature and had a good night in other state and national races.

For more information on Democratic Legislative District 20, please click on their website link here and their Facebook Page here.