how sad is it that 2 AZ congress districts had NO democrat running?

[msongs]

even a person in a coma would be better than nobody


https://results.arizona.vote/#/federal/33/0

[LAS14]

1. Makes me think with gratitude of DUer duhneece.

We'll never win if we don't have a presence. She's been forcing a blue presence in a red environment for a while. I'll support any Dem that will stand up and run in those districts. I hope they let me know.

[duhneece]

9. I give you my word that I will.

With DU support, we recruited and ran a (nearly) full ticket. Our amazing Gabe Vasquez pulled a win from an election-denying MAGA woman for a US Congress seat.

Our down-ballot Democrats helped him get there.

And DU helped me recruit.

[marybourg]

2. Nobody wanted to be a sacrificial lamb.

Even if you say your not going to campaign, just put your name on the line, media will constantly be hounding, opposing party will mock and denigrate you, Dem organizations will become angry and dismissive if you don’t appear. It’s superficially attractive to say just raise your hand. But if the person is not committed to actively campaigning, it could be worse than running no one.

An acquaintance ran for the seat some years ago. She did campaign fairly aggressively, but the district (8) was redder than it is now and she knew she had no chance. And she didn’t. It was disheartening to all of us who watched her.

[duhneece]

10. I found folks willing to run in Cowboys for Trump

Very bad, really awful red county.

We understood that we were helping elect a Governor or President, Congress critter or Senator.

[marybourg]

15. Thank you for your willingness to step up.

I lived in NM for a while.

[duhneece]

17. I love so much here. I'm glad I get to live where I want

I’m lucky

[SoCalDavidS]

3. It's Like Running Someone Against MTG Or Gaetz

Certain defeat.

MTG's Democratic opponent lost by 32%. He seemed like a decent candidate. Sadly the money is better spent elsewhere, when we have a chance.

[LAS14]

12. Of course there's certain defeat. But the campaign will get some...

... Dems out of the woodwork for the next one. And there'll be a center of gravity for those Dems interested in building the presence. And after some years, who knows!!

[JI7]

4. Maybe they are solid red districts

[betsuni]

6. +1

[AZLD4Candidate]

8. Lesko and Gosar could win running against Jesus in their districts.

[LAS14]

13. The point at this stage is not to win. It's to establish a Democratic presence, so...

... people have a point around which to coalesce. Dems may come out of the woodwork when they see the activity. New Dems moving in may have a more active stance. It takes time. A lot of time. But you know about that trip and first steps.

[LeftInTX]

16. Yes, but the presence needs to start at the local level.

Don't know enough about the area though...

[LAS14]

18. Yup. Very local. Check out posts referencing "duhneece" nt

[msongs]

5. well there's always roll over and play dead I suppose nt

[grantcart]

7. The change of district lines had an impact

People likely to file ended up in a different district.

Not criticizing the end result but it was really confusing when you were use to the old ones.

[Samrob]

11. Really sad. I have been preaching for "NO UNCONTESTED ELECTIONS" for over 10 years.

Even if we wrote in a name that would be better than no candidate.

[Buckeyeblue]

14. Agreed. We need candidates

Even if it seems like a lost cause. You never know what will happen.

[duhneece]

19. YES! We can't ever win if we don't run

Plus we deliver for up-ballot Congress critters and Pres/Governor

[yardwork]

20. Same for many NC rural districts. Unopposed Republican.

[treestar]

21. my state house district had that for years

in 2018 the Ds finally ran someone as Democrats were up for that midterm. She got 47%. This year, the election was quite close. Maybe the state Dems had a hint that the district was changing, but it seemed like running someone proved to be worth it. That's close enough to think we could take the seat sometime. This time it was 50.2 to 49.8!

For Congressional Districts, I say always run someone - the person gets experience, and it might just not turn out so bad.