Maricopa County Democratic Chairperson Patti O’Neal Discusses 2026: “So Goes Maricopa County, so Goes Arizona”

Maricopa County Democratic Party Chairperson Patti O’Neal is looking forward to the political possibilities in 2026.

In the interview below with Blog for Arizona, Ms. O’Neal discusses how the County organization has made progress in voter registration, candidate recruitment, and social media outreach, hoping to translate those efforts into positive electoral results for Democrats in 2026.

The questions and Ms. O’Neal’s responses are below.

1) To what extent have Maricopa County Democrats improved in voter registration since we last spoke in 2024? What strategies do they still need to incorporate in 2026 to help them achieve victory? Please explain.

Understanding the urgency of our voter registration problem, we took action. First, we invested in hiring a part-time staffer to lead the effort to address our registration deficit of Democrats. Though our budget limited how much we could do, the urgency of the moment demanded it. That also means we had to be creative. So, we created a voter registration ‘by-text’ program. By the end of this year, we will have reached 70k unregistered households, urging them to register to vote. Of the people who are registering, we know that two-thirds register as Democrats and only 5% are registering as Republicans. So, we know that we’re targeting the right people. In recent weeks, we’ve also begun to see the ‘bleed’ of Democratic registrants lessen. So, we think the tide may finally be turning in our favor as we head into Election Year, which is a very positive development. We’re also gonna continue growing our number of precinct committeepersons (PCs)–an area where we outperformed Republicans this year. PCs are the backbone of our party.

2) To what extent have Maricopa County Democrats performed well in candidate recruitment? Please explain.

I assumed office in late 2023. So, I had a short runway. We’re very proud of our recruitment efforts from last cycle. Maricopa County’s major cycle aligns with the presidential cycle. For the first time in modern history, we recruited candidates to run for every major county office on the ballot–we had a candidate for all 10 county offices. Though we didn’t achieve the outcome we’d hoped, we’re proud of pulling a great ticket together on a very shortened runway. This cycle, our big push will be to help reelect our incumbent statewide candidates, as well as electing a Democrat to State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and to Mine Inspector. In addition, we’ve started a federal PAC and will be targeting to flip CD1 to Democrats.

3) What are the names of the county, legislative district, Congressional, and statewide offices the Maricopa County Democrats will be concentrating resources on in 2025? Please explain.

We will be recruiting a candidate for the Maricopa County Community College board. We’re in the midst of conversations with prospective candidates now. We’d also love to recruit someone to run for Clerk of the Court. Historically, this has been more challenging for us to recruit a candidate for. But, we’re eager to talk to anyone who may be willing to step up here. We’ll be partnering with the ADLCC to help flip the State Legislature. ADLCC will lead that campaign and we stand ready to support them. As I just alluded to, we’ll be aggressively helping all of our statewide nominees get over the finish line. And, finally, for the first time in our history, MCDP will be a player in helping to elect a Democrat to US Congress with CD1 being one of the most closely watched congressional races in the United States.

4) Recognizing there are distinctive county offices, what are at least three issues the Maricopa County Democrats will be focusing on in 2025? Please explain.

We are heartened by the success we’ve seen in races around the country in recent weeks. We will be taking cues from what’s worked across the country in a wide variety of races–stretching from NJ to VA to NYC to MS and beyond. We know that people continue to be angry that prices are too high, whether it be grocery prices, healthcare, energy, or other essential items. These are issues that people care about, and I would expect Democrats to be weaving the issues into wherever they run throughout the county. We’re also concerned about protecting our elections. Our County Recorder has implemented new protocols that have resulted in more ballots having to be cured versus what we’ve seen in previous elections. That’s of concern to us. So, focusing on election security is something I know we’ll be talking about, too.

5) To what extent have Maricopa County Democrats improved in social media outreach and messaging since we last spoke in 2024? What strategies do they still need to incorporate in 2026 to help them to victory? Please explain.

We’ve done a few things. First, we launched a new webpage. We’ve also added some features that we hope will provide a more enjoyable experience for people who visit. We created a pro-democracy podcast landing page where people can more easily find good podcasts to listen to. We’ve been putting out press releases more frequently. We’re trying to get more placement into traditional and new media outlets to get our message out to more places. We’re fortunate to have several Young Democrats on our staff, which we also look to in order to help do better in meeting young people where they are.

6) Is there anything not covered in the first five questions that you would like the readers to know about the Maricopa County Democrats’ electoral efforts for 2026? Please explain.

Why are we important? For our statewide candidates to win, they must win Maricopa County. We’re the largest battleground county in the United States. Two-thirds of the vote comes from Maricopa County. Our population is also larger than 23 states. So goes Maricopa County, so goes Arizona.