Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona Celebrates Kris Mayes’ Victory in Arizona’s Attorney General Race
For Immediate Release: Thursday, December 29, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona Celebrates Kris Mayes’ Victory in Arizona’s Attorney General Race
In a race where Mayes won by 280 votes, NARAL Pro-Choice America members reached out to over 115,000 voters in the state
Phoenix — Today, Arizona completed its recount and determined that voters have elected NARAL-endorsed candidate Kris Mayes as attorney general. Mayes’ victory over anti-choice, anti-freedom Republican candidate Abe Hamadeh marks a huge win for reproductive freedom and flips a crucial office. Mayes, a longtime advocate and educator, has made her support for protecting reproductive freedom abundantly clear. Mayes vowed not to prosecute those seeking an abortion and doctors who provide abortion care, regardless of state law.
Mayes’ win is further proof that, across the country and in Arizona, abortion was at the top of people’s minds as they voted for Democrats. Post-election polling recently released by NARAL affirmed the central role that abortion played in the midterm elections. Not only that, but NARAL members helped make the difference in Arizona this cycle—in a race where Mayes won by 280 votes, NARAL members reached out to over 115,000 voters in the state.
In response to Mayes’ victory, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“We had full confidence that Kris Mayes would be Arizona’s next attorney general, and we’re thrilled to see the recount confirm it. We couldn’t be more excited to finally be able to congratulate Mayes on her hard-earned victory in this race. Mayes is a true champion for the people of Arizona who will fight tirelessly to ensure that we all have the freedom to make the best decisions for ourselves about if, when, and how to start or grow a family. With Attorney General-elect Mayes and Governor-elect Katie Hobbs at the helm, we can help turn the tides for abortion rights in Arizona.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America Southwest Regional Director Caroline Mello Roberson said:
“NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona and our more than 75,000 members across the state were proud to support Kris Mayes, a proven champion for reproductive freedom. This resounding victory against anti-choice, anti-freedom Republican Abe Hamadeh makes clear just how out-of-touch he is with the 9 in 10 Arizonans who support the freedom to decide.”
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 17 states, including Arizona, are enforcing bans on abortion. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.
NARAL endorsed Mayes as part of its largest-ever midterm electoral program to elect candidates up and down the ballot during this critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. The program focuses on deep field investments in phone banking, door knocking, youth organizing, and canvassing, along with a robust communications campaign to support endorsed candidates and ballot initiatives in Arizona, Georgia, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.
NARAL’s work in Arizona included:
- Knocking on over 2,000 doors, making nearly 27,000 calls, and sending over 86,000 texts;
- Hosting 43 candidate events with local reproductive freedom champions;
- Hiring organizing staff on the ground in Arizona to elect champions to statewide seats for the first time; and
- Deploying NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju to fight side-by-side with champions and get out the vote in key races.
Key components of our midterm campaign included:
- Harnessing the full power of our 4 million members to mobilize their communities through traditional organizing tactics. In total, we knocked on nearly 333,000 doors, made nearly 860,000 calls, and sent nearly 1.1 million texts.
- Continuing to broaden the impact of our cutting-edge research into voter sentiment on abortion, including our pioneering freedom-centered messaging, by training candidates, volunteers, and activists to speak to their communities in ways we know align with their values and move them to act on their beliefs.
- Rolling out a pilot program in Michigan with 14 organizers working on seven four-year college campuses and over 20 community college campuses to enroll voters and activate over 721 volunteers.
- Endorsing candidates in over 200 races nationwide for federal and state offices.
- NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.