Immigrant rights group launches $10M plan to mobilize Latino and independent voters

An immigrant rights group will spend millions and knock on tens of thousands of doors to fire up Latino voters ahead of the November midterms, in the hopes of electing progressive candidates who will push back against President Donald Trump. 

Living United for Change in Arizona, which frequently campaigns on behalf of Democrats, is planning to invest as much as $9.9 million over the next six weeks on voter outreach efforts in both federal and statewide races. Control of Arizona’s  government is on the ballot this year as the statewide offices are all up for grabs, along with two U.S. House seats that could help decide which party controls Congress. 

And local progressive groups, including LUCHA, are once again aiming to flip the state legislature, which Republicans have controlled for all but two terms since 1966. 

The funding is an impressive sum from an organization that made just under $9 million in revenue in 2024, the last year its tax records are available, and demonstrates the energy behind progressive campaigning efforts in this year’s election cycle. César Fierros, a spokesman for LUCHA, said the money comes from a mix of member support, individual and philanthropic contributions and the group’s political action committee.

Stephanie Maldonado, LUCHA’s political director, said the goal is as much to erect a bulwark against the Trump administration as it is to create a legislative environment that results in Arizona-centered policies. The group has long called for worker and renter focused policies at the state level, including mandatory paid family and medical leave and affordable housing solutions that have been mostly rebuffed by Republicans, who decide which proposals are considered.

“We need candidates that are going to fight back,” she said. “(Who) are going to hold the line for everyday, hardworking Arizonans and not just protect private interests, like those of corporations, data centers, electric companies and corporate landlords.”  

The campaign strategy is to connect with at least 400,000 voters through door-knocking, phone calls, mailers and digital outreach. And that’s more of a minimum for the group, which has years of experience canvassing and has outperformed that number in past elections. 

In both the 2022 and 2024 cycles, LUCHA made contact with more than half a million voters; in 2024 alone, activists knocked on over 630,000 doors. 

Maldonado said the focus will be on Latino voters and voters who aren’t registered with either major political party, noting that both are electoral blocs with the potential to swing close races. In 2022, Democrat Katie Hobbs defeated her opponent, Republican Kari Lake, and captured the governor’s seat with just a little over a percentage point. And Kris Mayes was elected state attorney general with a razor-thin 280-vote margin. 

About 34% of voters in Arizona aren’t registered with a party, according to a July report from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, placing the group closely behind registered Republicans, who make up the state’s largest group of voters, at 35%. 

And about 25% of Arizona’s voters, or 1.3 million, are Latino. That demographic, Maldonado said, deserves representation and LUCHA is committed to ensuring their voices are heard at the ballot box. 

“Latinos are the second highest population in the state,” she said. “They’re a very important electorate bloc that makes decisions in statewide races.” 

Part of the impetus behind motivating Latino voters is the Trump administration’s vitriol against the immigrants. Trump’s mass deportation campaign has led to the violent arrests and mistreatment of hundreds of people, many with American family members, and racial profiling tactics that have ensnared citizens. Maldonado pointed out that Arizona, as a border state, is at the center of the White House’s anti-immigrant agenda, and noted that how much state officials get involved with federal deportation efforts is likely to be decided in November. 

Hobbs has so far refused to wade into immigration enforcement but her opponent, Republican Andy Biggs, has been a vocal proponent of Trump’s deportation campaign. And in the attorney general’s race, Republican Warren Petersen has vowed to aid federal agents in deporting immigrants, including those who came to the country as children and are currently shielded from removal under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. 

“Every election is the most important election, however I do believe that what happens in this election will really decide what happens in the next two to four years,” Maldonado said.